Conduit
by Zarkos
Summary: A self insert story where a stroll to the high school turns deadly and then I'm brought to the world of RWBY, though not as I was before. Can I survive as something more than human? Chosen to fight darkness that seeks to destroy all?
1. An Unexpected Trip

Here is the first chapter to the RWBY self insert story I mentioned some time ago. There will be parings in this story, as well as my Freezing: Wolf God. Unlike Wolf God I do not have a 5 page minimum before I even consider posting a chapter, so the chapters will vary more for this . So you all know I am still writing the eleventh chapter of Wolf God, which is about half way done or so. That said it will sill take me a bit since I'm am doing some drawing as well as writing other things. Lastly cheers to those of you who have favorited me as an author and or followed me. Now onto the story...

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An unusually cold night greeted me with an icy slap as I walked out into the night. The night sky was clear, the stars barely visible behind all the streetlights. Even though I had two sweaters on and thick pants it was cold. At least it wasn't raining. I walked down to 185th to get my mind off of upcoming exams. The first thing I noticed was that the street was a little too quiet, as if nobody was driving on it at all. Where are the late night drivers? Reaching into my pocket I pulled out my cell phone checking the time. My phone displayed 10:15. An eerie silence filled the air.

I quickly walked, which for many was about the same speed as them jogging in some cases, to my old high school. Once I entered the deserted parking lot a heavy darkness crept over the area. What the hell? The darkness seemed to move like water as it hung above the parking lot. Mesmerized I followed the darkness deeper into the parking lot. For some reason the darkness gathered just before the chain link fence that blocked the foot ball field from the south parking lot.

I watched intently as the darkness gathered into a a cloud, and inside it looked like there were two people talking. One I could tell was female though her clothing was hazy so I couldn't quite what she was wearing other than a white coat. Maybe a lab coat? The other person was a male though details were even harder to see on him. The dark cloud combined with the dark color of his cloths nearly hid him from my sight. Their lips moved but I couldn't hear any words what so ever. Then the male pointed at me and his lips moved. Even though I didn't hear the man in blurred in gray speak I understood what was said; _Kill him._

The dark cloud shifted a little in shape and several shadows landed on the ground forming into a rough humanoid shape. It was translucent with a thin lanky body, impossibly long arms, and hands equipped with long fingers ending in claws. The shadow forms were the same light gray color making them somewhat visible despite being translucent. The four forms rested on all fours waiting patiently. I tensed slightly. I shifted my feet to be further apart with one behind the other while having my arms out and ready to move at a moments notice. The humanoids tensed leaning back slightly. Can these things touch anything?

I narrowed my eyes at the closest shadow form. "Don't give me whatever you consumed. I have no desire to look like a husk." I said then the closest shadow form jumped at me. I crouched down just before the shadow form passed over me with incredible quickness. The other three charged. I rolled to the right avoiding the second shadow form. I sensed something behind me and turned to see the first shadow form claw my leg. Pain laced through me as my question was answered. I growled but reached for the creature's arm and grabbed something solid with my left hand.

I struck the elbow with a palm forcing the joint to bend backwards. The joint shattered and the shadow form screeched. I let go stumbling backwards a little with a ringing in my ears. The other three rushed me again. I leaned out of the way of the first shadow form driving my elbow into the things chest. Bone, or something like it, broke from the force making the thing bounce back onto the ground limp. The second and third shadow forms swiped at me at the same time with blinding quickness grazing my chest and shoulders. I heard the one behind me hiss as one of the other two prepared to jump at me.

This was too good to pass up. "Come at me ya bastard!" I hollered then ducked right before the shadow form rushed over me and attacked the weakened one. I risked a glance behind behind me to see the shadow forms rip into each other. That glanced cost me. Within that several second time frame the last shadow form sliced my chest and arms. Blood gushed from the deep cuts causing me to fall over hard onto my side. My vision blurred but I could make out the shadow form get close to me.

Fine. I guess this is how it'll end. My life snuffed out by a group of translucent shadow monsters in the middle of the night inside of an empty high school parking lot. Just swell. The head of the shadow form drew close to mine before its thin line of a mouth opened to a maw of shark like teeth. Something moved just past the shadow form's head catching my attention. The thing was a quick white blob with my current vision. The approaching maw of teeth stopped then turned to stare at the blob of light that had gotten close.

A hiss escaped the thin throat of the shadow form. My vision briefly cleared to show that the light blob was actually an orb. In the moment after the hiss a tendril lashed out from the orb and zapped the shadow form, which vanished in an explosion of shadow that spread out and faded. Again my vision blurred though I could see that the orb floated close to me. It hovered by my head for maybe ten seconds or so, feeling more or less like an eternity. Finally light burst forth from the orb blinding me and relieving me of my senses.

OoOoOoOoOoOo

The next thing I felt was pain. A searing fire covering all of my body. Lovely. I opened my eyes slowly being greeted with the sight of trees that had red leaves...Bloody hell. How did I get to here? It hurt but I looked around. The trees around me all sported red leaves and some rested on the ground in a thin carpet. I could somewhat feel my limbs which was a good sign. My cloths were sticky around my chest, legs, and arms. Why are they sticky? I put my fingers on my chest and brought them to my face. My fingers were soaked in blood. Well that isn't good.

I sighed. I have somehow transported to a fictional universe and I was still bleeding out, brilliant. With a grunt I rolled over onto my stomach catching a glimpse of the pool of blood on the ground where I was. The forest was a little too quiet for my liking. Assuming I was actually in the world of RWBY I had to get out of this forest before any Grimm could eat me alive. Getting up was grueling but I slowly rose ignoring the protest of my muscles. Once on my feet I swayed a little feeling dizzy and somewhat heavy to the front. Why am I heavy in the front? I'll have to figure it out later.

Walking hurt like hell. My body screamed at me as I made my way to the nearest tree in front of me. Vision blurred a little but I kept going. I have to get out of here. I dimly heard twigs snap and break under my feet. I reached out and bumped my hand against the rough bark of a tree. Step one complete, now to get-

I was snapped out of my thoughts when the bushes near me rustled. Leaning heavily against the tree I tensed. If it was a Grimm in there I was screwed. With the bleeding and being weakened I had no chance against anything if I needed to defend myself. Something black emerged from the bushes. Yep, a Grimm. Bite me. I waited as more black emerged, a large patch of pitch black fur revealed itself. As it continued to back up I also took a step back, only to step on a small twig and snap it.

The Grimm stopped for a second sniffed the air and whipped around to see me in all my blood soaked glory. Malice and hatred glared forth from the two glowing crimson colored eyes. A low growl issued forth from the mask covered muzzle of the Grimm, a Beowolf. The instant the Beowolf took a step adrenaline surged through me and the pain I had previously felt vanished. It rushed at me with a speed I didn't anticipate and knocked me back into the clearing with a giant black paw. I growled as I landed on my back.

I rolled to my feet as the Grimm charged me. The world slowed down while something in me snapped. Suddenly I felt energy swirling around me then focused it at the approaching Grimm with my thoughts. The Beowolf slowed possibly sensing or smelling something was off. I knelt down before sticking my hand on the ground. A sheet of ice spread from it quickly covering the clearing. The Grimm slipped and madly tried to get traction. While it slid on the ice I felt pain and desperation burn in my blood. Then fire erupted in a storm around me burning everything.

I began breathing heavily as more Grimm showed up. A bunch of them. While they filed into the scorched clearing I counted nine of them. They operate in packs...Oh hell. In the back of the group I could see a Beowolf that was larger than the others and more covered in the white bone mask armor, or whatever it is. I clenched my fists and fire appeared again. They charged me and I fought them. Using the fire I burnt three of them but that didn't keep the other six from attacking me. For the next four minutes I fought the six Beowolves with fire burning their corpses and earning more wounds from their large claws and fangs. The pain was starting to come back to me but I ignored it and looked for my next target.

The last Beowolf moved towards me, but cautiously. For some reason I reached out my hand seeing it tremble, with bruises and cuts on my arms from blocking claw swipes. I focused my eyes on the Beowolf before uttering. "Mine." A rush of energy left me in a sudden wave, then I began to fall. I caught a glimpse of the Grimm's eye color change from the crimson red to a bright silver. What happened? I blacked out as soon as I hit the ground.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOo

Professor Ozpin studied the recorded footage of the unknown individual again that had been found by a third year team from Beacon, for the fourth time. Watching as the female, presumably a Faunus due to the wolf ears on her head, appeared inside of a clearing in Forever Fall forest in a flash of white light. She was attractive for her apparent age of either 18 or 19. Her hair was roughly mid back in length and soaked in blood that made it next to impossible to tell what color it was. Her body was mostly soaked in blood draining form the various wounds that she had appeared with.

In the video the Faunus's eyes opened slowly revealing them to be a bright sky blue in color. She looked around then limped to a tree after getting up. As she leaned against it a Beowolf backed up and found her. Then a fight broke out where the female unleashed ice and fire at her attacker without the use of a weapon. The rest of the Beowolf pack ran in to join the fight before getting destroyed them selves by the Faunus attacking with fire around her body. Several died in the first charge but the remaining six Beowolves managed to land blows that left claw scraps on Faunus's forearms, and a lucky one managed to claw her face. The only one who didn't attack was the Alpha Beowolf, who used caution while approaching the wolf Faunus. She reached out her arm and muttered something before collapsing onto the ground limp.

Professor Ozpin took a sip of coffee and rewound the video focusing on the Faunus, and turned up the volume. With that section of the video on replay he heard one word; "Mine". Then she fell over as the Alpha Beowolf walked over to sit by her body. The camera caught the Beowolf staring at it curiously. The professor paused the video with a clear view of it's eyes. They were no longer crimson red, but bright silver in color.

"Another Conduit..." Ozpin commented just before the tall blond figure of Glynda entered his office. "How are our guests doing?"

Glynda ran a hand through her hair then pulled out her scroll. With a few key commands a video popped up showing the wolf Faunus and the Alpha Beowolf in the same room both sleeping, the Faunus on the medical bed and the Grimm on the floor. Then she pulled up an image of another room, though this was was dotted with claw marks and dents from the its previous occupant. "The wolf Faunus is doing better, but she was badly injured when team GREL brought her in. She should be able to talk in a few hours, though I'm not entirely sure why having the Grimm in the same room as her calms it."

"Did you notice the color of the alpha's eyes?" Ozpin said.

Glynda raised an eye brow. "No, why?"

"They were bright silver." Ozpin replied. "Do you know about the legends of the Conduits?"

"Of course I do." she answered. Glynda knew Professor Ozpin had something in with his questions and observations, but what was it? What was the professor aiming for? What did this conversation have to do with their unexpected guest? The headmaster of Beacon sipped his coffee waiting for Glynda to speak. "The main legends of the Conduits speak of one of their own with the ability to bind Grimm to them and control them. But there hasn't been any evidence to prove they could control Grimm."

"Until now." Ozpin said. Glynda's gaze shifted to the video feed of the wolf Faunus who stirred. Despite the amount of injury the wolf Faunus had sustained she was awake far earlier than Ozpin had anticipated, though that was okay with him since he had some questions for her.

"Should we say hello?" Glynda inquired, then Ozpin nodded.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOo

A deep growl emanated from somewhere close by but I couldn't quite figure out where. My body was sore as if I had jumped into a boiling pot of oil then ran a marathon after. I groaned opening my eyes slowly. This time I was in a room of some sort with blank walls the color of steel. I glanced to my right, a wall. Looking the other direction I saw a machine sitting next to whatever I was laying on. On one side of the machine was a holographic screen, but I couldn't read it whatsoever, though I spotted a tube that ran from the machine to my left arm. It was covered in pristine white bandages. I guess someone had the idea to get me to a hospital. I looked back to the ceiling then something nudged my head.

Turning my head I stared directly into bright silver eyes within a white and red mask, the alpha Beowolf. A weak whine escaped its snout as it gently nudged me again. Slowly I moved my hand to pet the Beowolf's mask. A small smile crept onto my face. "I'm okay." I told the Beowolf who rubbed it's head into my hand affectionately. Wait... Why did it do that? Were they even possible of what I'd just seen? The Beowolf's right ear twitched then a growl rumbled from it. The alpha turned around to face something. I followed it to see two people enter from a door, also steel in color. To the left of the door was a table that held several items on it whilst a window occupied the wall to the right of the door from my side of the room.

The first person was a tall woman with blond hair in a kind of pony tail behind her that seemed to reach mid back. Shoe wore a black business skirt along with a white long sleeve shirt holding something in her hand. Ah, a Scroll. I could see a stump attached to her waist most likely her Huntress weapon. Behind her a man with gray hair and green clothing entered, a cup of coffee in hand. This might be interesting Professor Ozpin, Glynda Goodwitch.

I heard another growl beginning to issue forth from the Grimm. I lightly bumped the alpha on the head with my left hand. "Easy." I rasped, my voice feeling a tad bit horse. The Grimm looked over its shoulder to me briefly before lowering it- himself to the floor. A male? How did I know that?

"I was hoping to ask you some questions." Glynda said. Naturally. "Do you know how you got injured?"

I narrowed my eyes at her. Usually the first question is "What is your name?" or "Who are you?" rather than "How did you get injured?". Knowing who these two were it wouldn't be a good idea to lie. Time to see how they'll take it. "I'm sure you've seen me fight the Beowolves, but I already had some injures from my world." I answered then waited for it to sink in. Glynda narrowed her eyes with an incredulous stare while Ozpin mulled it over barely showing anything that indicated he was, save for a tiny light dancing in his eyes.

"Another world you say?"

I nodded.

"Do you have evidence of this young lady?"

I opened my mouth to speak then clamped it shut when his words sunk in. "Young lady"? What the hell? On top of inter-dimensional travel the universe seemed to have a sense of humor. I took a deep breath. "Could I have a mirror?" Glynda nodded and help up a medium sized hand mirror. I glared daggers at the reflection in the mirror, it just glared back. I had a female body complete with a set of animal ears on my head. Awesome... I'm a Faunus with ocean blue colored eyes. Wolf ears sat towards the top of my head and matched the color of long flowing hair, which was a stone gray in color. "I _was_ male before appearing in this world. The evidence is on the small black and silver colored device."

Glynda put the mirror down on the table then took a few seconds to pick up my cell phone. "What is this device?"

"A cell phone." I said then reached down to pet the Beowolf's ears with my finger tips. "You'll need me to unlock it." She brought it over to me then I grabbed it inputting the lock combination. For some reason I felt the need to explain a cell phone to them. "My cell phone here is an example of advanced technology from my world, though your communication devices put it to extreme shame." Luckily I had a recent full body photo of myself and a friend of mine together. Once on the photo I slowly turned the phone in one hand to show Glynda.

"Which one is-

"The guy beside the tall blond was what I looked like." I interrupted earning a quick glance from her.

"What are the other items from your pockets?" Ozpin asked gesturing to the table. Glynda scooted it over so I could see it, while retrieving the cell phone from my hand. Three other items rested on the table. I recognized them instantly and answered. "Keys, wallet, and an Ipod; a music listening device."

"How did you get to _our_ world?" Glynda said continuing to, I guess, record my answers to their questions in her Scroll.

"Hell if I know." I commented then shrugged, or tried to. Pain shocked through my body at the motion causing me to grit my teeth and let out a small growl. "The last thing I remember before waking up in this world was an orb of light then I was here."

Glynda frowned then looked to her Scroll again before holding to where I could see it. "Do you have any idea how you did this?" She tapped a button then a video of...me...fighting the Grimm played. The video started with me creating a layer of ice in the clearing before fire blazed around me in an angry haze, charring the clearing and any Grimm that got too close. This just kept getting better. Not only did I get transported to another dimension. I got a non-human female body AND I also got superpowers. Universe- 3 me- 0.

"Not really." I replied since saying yes or no would be a lie. "At the time I could feel energy around me and I just kind of grabbed it with my will, assuming that makes sense."

"It does." Ozpin commented then I raised an eyebrow. How the hell does that make any sense for this world? There isn't anything like magic or its equivalent. "What were you called on your world?"

"Brandon," I said. No way in hell was I going to give away my last name. Who knows what would happen?

"Since I believe you are stuck, would you like to attend my academy in order to learn about our world and to train your skills?"

Like I could say no to this? "Yes, I'd like to." I answered then Ozpin took a sip of coffee. "However I'll need some things first."

"What do you need?" He said raising an eyebrow.

"First of all I am NOT using my old name. Second I think it would be wise to have at least a collar for the Beowolf here so people don't try to kill him right off the bat."

Ozpin glanced at the Beowolf for a minute, the dancing light in his eyes again. "Alright. What will your new name be?"

"Eve." I answered then looked to the ceiling before closing my eyes. "Feel free to record my history as unknown or whatever corresponds to someone with little official documentation."

"Before we leave there are some things you need to know." Ozpin said standing up. "You are a Wolf Faunus and a Conduit." I raised an eyebrow at that. "Conduits are special individuals who can manipulate the energies of the universe."

"Kinda like magic I guess." I commented.

"Many would describe their powers in that manner." Ozpin replied grabbing his cane.

"Most Conduits are unfortunately as much of an enemy to the kingdoms as the Grimm are." Glynda said closing her Scroll. Living here is going to be hell...

"However, not all of them are evil." Ozpin reassured me. "But I suspect you will be treated differently for being a Wolf Faunus who is also a Conduit." I nodded in agreement then they left. Shortly after I closed my eyes, letting sleep overcome me.


	2. Initiation

Here we are with the second chapter to Conduit. This one is by far the longest chapter I have typed up yet for a fanfiction at over 12,000 words (12,609 if ya want an exact number, which is just over 19 pages single spaced in OpenOffice). I probably could have gotten away with doing Beacon's initiation as two separate chapters, but I wanted to put it into one. As a heads up the switches from first person to third person POV is quite obvious becuase in my Freezing fan fiction is wasn't easy to tell and it confused people. Thanks for the favorites and follows. as usual read, review, and enjoy. Now without further delay onto the story...

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Three months had passed since the time in the hospital cell. During that time I learned about the world as well as the legends about what I was, a Grimm Tamer. Which apparently was a special type of Conduit that can bind Grimm to them to use as a pet of sorts. How that works precisely I have no idea. The legends also noted that the bound Grimm's nature changed from hate and destruction to a more balanced one, and with that the color of their eyes changed to bright silver. One month had been spent following Glynda. She got the unfortunate task of training me to live as a female, or at least educating me. That. Was. Hell. Several times I got migraines from the various perfume or hair care products she insisted I use. After those incidents she learned not to have them near me.

Aside from the spectacular failure of not being able to use perfumes Glynda's education was insightful to a degree. I got a lot of strange looks nearly every time we went out to clothing stores. I think that might have been my choice of clothing being primarily boyish or just whatever had been within reach when I got dressed, or because I was a wolf Faunus. It had taken a lot of different stores to find one that I was okay being at and one that didn't want to throw me out for being a Faunus. It may have also been the Beowolf that accompanied us sometimes. Thankfully people didn't really attack once they saw the giant metal collar on him, which had a bright neon blue glow to it.

Today was another occasion where Glynda had taken me to the city of Vale for a new weapon and some food, the latter had been first. I had named the bound Beowolf Grendel and found out that the Grimm ate a lot more than me, and I have a large appetite. We walked down the street getting nervous looks with the collared Grimm in tow, but that resulted in a clear path.

It seemed that no body in their right mind wanted to get close to Grendel. I did't blame them. Grimm on general principal move far faster than normal humans. If they irritated the Grimm it would kill them before they could do anything. It didn't help that many of them knew I was a Conduit. That had been stated on the news more than once for a Conduit to be attending Beacon, which was a rare occurrence. Thankfully my name had never been mentioned, though there had been several shots that one news station had gotten of me and Grendel.

The Commercial District was a nice area lined with shops for various things. The street we walked was littered with weapon shops, armor shops and a few Dust shops. The front of the store we stopped at displayed several types of swords and a hammer that, according to the advertisement, could change into a grenade launcher. The overall look of the place echoed that of a military style armory. Along with weapons that could rival the those from Borderlands. Steel dominated the color scheme with a few spots of brown where wood could be seen.

Grendel and I exchanged a look before a bell ringed on the door. We followed inside only to be greeted with more weapons of incredible verity. What else would be inside a weapon shop anyway? Maybe I could get a rifle that shoots explosive bunnies? Or a shotgun that shoots rockets?

"Is she the young wolf I've heard about?" Some one said then a door near the back opened to reveal a middle aged cat Faunus. I could tell by his stained short sleeve shirt and thick arms that the man often worked with his hands. Probably on weapons given the look of the store.

"She is." Glynda simply responded gesturing to me with a wave of her hand. "Eve this is Rick, a lynx Faunus and a master weapon smith."

"I never thought I'd meet a Conduit like this." Rick commented sheepishly offering me a large hand. His eyes were a vivid green while the short hair on his head was a dusty red brown like his ears.

I took it with a strong shake and a smile. "Even though I'm a Conduit I figured it wouldn't hurt to have a weapon or two that I can use as a back up in case I can't use my powers."

"Wise idea Eve." Rick released my hand then walked up to the back side of the counter. "What kind of weapon do you have in mind?"

I decided to turn and look over the store. There was probably about fifty or sixty weapons through out the sizable place on various shelves, maybe more. "Did you make all of these weapons?" I saw him nod out of the corner of my eye. "Can you make a bladed battle staff that can separate into two smaller weapons, an assault rifle that can change to form to that of a sniper rifle, and a pair of pistols that have exchangeable Dust cartridges as well as blades attached to the bottoms of the barrels?"

Rick let loose a quick laugh. "That's a tall order wolf." He grinned displaying a fang. "I can make those for you. You'll have 'em all in four days."

"Thanks." I said then picked up several weapon magazines that were on the counter and left. Once out of the store I got out my Scroll and sent a message to Ozpin. _"_ _I've made arrangements for three weapons to be made by Rick. He said I'd have them in four days."_

"Interesting choice of weapons Eve." Glynda commented as she walked past me. "Head back to Beacon or you'll miss the Initiation."

That would be rather bad to miss. "Grendel." I said then felt the familiar nudge from the Beowolf letting me know he was at my side. I grabbed the bottom of his collar before teleporting us to Beacon. It was entertaining to see several people flip out and scream or jump up into the air at our sudden appearance near the airship pads. Two people tensed pulling out weapons. The two males quickly got in my path, in response Grendel growled beginning to rise to his full height. "No." I commanded and Grendel settled down, based on his shadow the Grimm sat on the ground.

The two in front of me looked to be about seventeen or eighteen. The guy on the left had the muscle bound jock type of body easily showing through his black jeans and blue T-shirt. His hair was a ruffled mess of dirty blond, having a few strands hang near green eyes. A claymore rested in one hand while the other was open. His companion was nearly the opposite. He had short red hair in a spiky fashion accompanied by red eyes. A slender athletic body was clad in light body armor that was dark red in color. In his hands was a drawn bow with a arrow pointed right at me. I guess the slim guy likes red.

"Who are you and how do you have a Beowolf following you?" Red asked glancing between Grendel and me.

"A prospective student to Beacon." I replied as the jock began to spin the claymore in his right hand. "If you don't mind I'd like to get to the cliff for Initiation."

"You didn't answer the other question." The warrior informed me.

A sigh escaped my lips. "Do you pay attention to the news?"

"Stop avoiding the question." Red commented. After a strangled minute of silence the warrior charged. I kept my hands in my pockets and waited. At five feet from me he raised the claymore in a overhead swing. Four. Two. I narrowed my eyes focusing on him. An invisible force slammed into the warrior launching him back past Red. The archer released the arrow. Grendel appeared in front of me and shredded it arrow before the arrow could reach me. Red looked at me slack jawed while others stared.

Several of them mentioned the words "Conduit" and possibly "Monster". Though I didn't really care as I ignored them. The crowd that had apparently gathered gave me a bit of a wide birth as I walked through them along with Grendel. I easily navigated my way to the cliff where Ozpin was looking out onto the forest. What was he doing here early?

At the sound of me walking on the grass the Professor glanced behind him over a shoulder. "I'm glad you requested Rick to make your weapons. He is the best weapon smith I know." Ozpin commented then sipped his coffee as usual. I've always wondered how people could drink the foul sludge. To me coffee had tasted like wet dirt and smelled almost as bad.

It was only Ozpin, Grendel, and I at the cliff. I looked around seeing a green forest with a light orange hue courtesy of the sun. The cliff was grassy up to the edge and littered with two neat rows of square shaped pads. The launch pads for initiation. How the hell was Grendel and I supposed to use this? Only one of us could fit on the launch pad. I doubt it could launch our combined weight as far as the others would go.

"Anything I need to know about this initiation Professor?" I asked.

Ozpin took a sip of coffee glancing in my direction with his front facing the forest. "As you might have deduced for the initiation test you will be launched into the forest on the pads in the ground." Ozpin turned to me and pushed his glasses up with a finger. "You on the other hand can jump into the forest on your own. Since there isn't enough launch pads for both you and Grendel."

"Anything else?"

"You'll learn that when initiation starts, which is thirty minutes away."

Of course he won't give me a favored bit of info above the other students who won't know a damn thing. I nodded then Ozpin turned back to face the forest. From the side I couldn't quite see his face, but I sensed that many things were on his mind. What would they be? I stopped my train of thought and left for the cafeteria.

 _Eve_. I heard in my head as a dark echoing voice, one that belonged to my bound alpha Beowolf Grendel. I turned my head to the right as Grendel crouched down a little to have silver eyes level with mine. _I want food. Can go there?_ Grendel's voice finished.

I reached up and rubbed the top of Grendel's head. "Of course we can." With that he rubbed his head into my hand. After a pause we continued towards the cafeteria. I felt a slight rumble as I walked. It wouldn't hurt to eat a bit before mowing down a bunch of Grimm. _I'm proud that you're learning English well Grendel._ I smiled glancing his way and he did the same to me, and let out a low rumble that was his version of purring or something like that. It didn't take us long to get to the cafeteria. Through the windows I noticed that it was more stuffed than I had seen before. Probably due to prospective students and others seeking some food before the test like me.

We entered and received a series of stares from the many new faces here. I scanned the room and found several people that looked familiar. Off to one corner Yang and Ruby sat talking to Jaune who was laughing a little, but I saw anxiety all over his face. I could have turned my ears to try and figure out what they were saying. However I decided against it and got food for Grendel and I. With a loaded tray of food and a big bowl of mixed meats I went over to Yang, Ruby, and Jaune.

"Did you hear about the Wolf Faunus who beat up two guys without touching them?" Ruby asked excitedly right before Jaune looked up and noticed me. Though Ruby and Yang missed the slight glance upwards. Ruby continued to talk as I got up close to her then waited. "I wonder if the rumor about a Grimm Tamer is true?"

I chose then to let my presence be known. "It is." I simply answered. Ruby moved nearly too fast for me to track and was in Yang's arms with a yelp. I couldn't help but grin as Yang held her sister who hugged her tightly. I walked over and put the bowl of meat on the ground by the wall for Grendel then turned back to them. "I'm the one who beat those idiots earlier."

"How did you do that?" Jaune asked as I sat down to Yang's right at the end of the table, closest to the corner.

"I'm a Conduit so I smashed one with kinetic force while Grendel," I pointed to my eating Beowolf in the corner, "shredded an arrow before it reached me."

Suddenly Ruby's eyes sparkled with excitement. "I never thought I'd meet a Conduit!" She exclaimed standing next to me before grabbing my left hand and shaking it vigorously. "I'm Ruby Rose!"

The moment Ruby let go of my hand Yang pulled her sister back with one arm. "I'm Ruby's older sister, Yang." I nodded to her then turned my attention to Jaune.

"I'm Jaune Arc." He supplied sounding nervous.

"I'm Eve." I said before digging into my food. The three of them talked about weapons and fighting styles so I tuned them out as I ate my food. Initiation should be easy save for the part where I'd have to team up with the first person I made eye contact with after landing. With my luck I'd probably get some one odd as my team mate, or get stuck with Weiss. Once I was done eating I grabbed Grendel's empty bowl and dropped it off along with my tray at a table for dirty dishes. Within five minutes we were back at the cliff, and not the only two who were early. I'd never seen the three others before and didn't remember if they had been part of the show or not.

Out of the three one was a male with dark green hair that hung about his shoulders. He wore a light green t-shirt with dark blue jeans. On his back rested two medium sized axes and on his waist I could see two holsters with pistols in them. His well built frame lightly strained the shirt as he walked around slowly. Once his azure eyes spotted me the guy waved with a smile. I nodded back in reply. Towards the end of the rows of launch pads sat one of the two females. From the pair of cat ears on her head it was obvious she was a Faunus. For some reason she seemed to be a little thin as if some of her life had been drained away.

A gray shirt clung loosely to the Fuanus's top along with faded jeans that appeared to have seen batter days. Blue hair obscured her face but by the down caste angle of her head I suspected she had a lot on her mind. It was hard for me not to see an invisible burden that weighed down on her. I couldn't help but wonder what it was.

The human female was laid down on the ground with her feet over the edge of the cliff watching the clouds. Her body was just as well built as the male's though her silver hair was much longer then the guy's dark green. As soon as I got within talking distance her head snapped to the side finding me and Grendel.

"Yo." She said then got up to her feet quickly before heading to me. "You must be the Conduit I've heard about." She offered her hand. "I'm Raysel ConCain."

I accepted her hand and shook it. She had a hell of a grip. Probably due to the two claymores on her back as well as some rectangular frame that looked like a compacted gun of some sort. "Eve, and the Beowolf is Grendel."

"No last name?" Raysel asked with a raised eyebrow releasing my hand. Her red eyes caught my attention. They were crimson like Grimm eyes, though no hateful emotion resided in them. If anything it was a hint of sadness, her eyes also had a slit for a pupil.

"I'm an orphan with no one who cared to have remembered it, even if I had one to begin with." I replied with a shrug. I doubt she'd take me seriously if I tried to explain that I was from another world.

A small frown crossed her face. "That's unfortunate." Out of the corner of my eye I saw Grendel look out over the Emerald Forest. "Would you be game for teaming up for Initiation?"

"Hell yeah!" I commented and fist bumped her hand. "See you in the forest." I added turning around to jump over the edge of the cliff with Grendel following me. I thought I heard someone scream "Are you crazy?!" but I wasn't sure if that was me imagining it or not. About halfway down the cliff I waved an arm in front of me creating a huge ice ramp for the two of us. We quickly descended it and launched into the air. Grendel landed on all fours while I used a blast of wind to counter my fall. As soon as I hit the ground my pocket started to buzz making me yelp in surprise.

I quickly pulled out my Scroll and opened it to find a call from Ozpin. "Did you two land fine?"

I snapped my fingers with my free hand and the ice ramp dissipated into cold air. "Yeah." I answered looking at Grendel who stretched to his full height, nearly twice mine and yawned.

"In ten minutes I will give you the details of Initiation when the remainder of the participants have arrived."

"Gonna include me with a video call?" I commented and simply got a nod as an answer then the call ended. "Seems we gotta wait to know exactly what is going to happen." I sighed. Unlike them I knew what was required for Initiation, but there was a lot more taking the test than what had been shown in the series. From the sounds of it Raysel already had knowledge of what to do for Initiation. How did she know that?

 _Maybe have family at here?_ Grendel offered.

"Good point, she probably does." I commented then started walking as I put my Scroll away back into my pocket. "You got her scent right?"

Grendel nodded.

I grinned. "Once they start flying I'll cloak us and we go find her."

"Unless you're found first." Someone said from behind me. On instinct I dropped to the ground just in time to avoid a spray of bullets where my head had been. I rolled to my feet and spotted a man wearing an all silver colored mercenary outfit kind of like the clones have in Star Wars without a helmet. In his hands was a large assault rifle with a ridiculous magazine nearly the size of my forearm.

"Care to share why you're shooting at me?" I said standing up and conjuring a fire sword in my left hand.

"I hate Conduits." There was venom in the way he said it. "Plus I'm not paid to answer questions."

This could be bad. "What did Conduits do to you mate?"

He raised the rifle to his shoulder. "Why does it matter? You'll be dead shortly."

So much for that. "In that case, bring it on asshole." I growled then threw the ball of fire to the upper branches of a tree on my left. It exploded into a small inferno accompanied by a scream as a body fell from it. Bingo, there was someone there. The click of the safety alerted me to my first attacker who was about to unload a hail of bullets. I dashed forward to put a tree between me and him. A second after I got behind a tree the weapon in his hands roared. I could feel the spray of bullets thump into the tree. Thankfully none of the bullet went through the tree, but I couldn't stay here long.

"Come on, dogie." He called walking towards the tree I hid behind. "Don't be shy."

Shy? Yeah, right. More like I'd rather not get shot. I shook my head then teleported into the foliage of the tree. I watched as he jumped around the corner ready to shoot at something. His shoulders slumped when he noticed nothing was there. Slowly I moved to where I could land on top of him. I let go of one hand then Grendel sneaked up behind him, though the human turned around quickly. My Beowolf pinned the man with one arm to the tree then ripped out his throat with the other. Muffled gurgling was the only sounds that escaped the guy's shredded throat.

 _Move over. I'm jumping down from the tree._ I supplied mentally to Grendel who looked up. He took a few steps back to give me room to land. I let go and landed on the ground with a small crunch of old leaves and a snapping twig. I went through his pockets finding several cards and two Scrolls along with eight spare clips for the silver gray assault rifle. On his waist were several grenades and a cell phone. I guess Scrolls didn't completely replace those.

I pried the assault rifle from the dead hands and aimed it at a tree to get a feel for the weapon. A little heavier than I thought at about six pounds or so. Hopefully there aren't many more of these guys in the forest. More importantly, why where they here? Did Ozpin call them in? Or is it something else?

OoOoOoOoOo

 _(third person POV)_

On the top of the cliff overlooking the Emerald Forest there was a full gathering of students. Each one of them was standing on a metal platform in the ground.

"Professor Ozpin, what's going on in the forest?" A silver haired female, Raysel ConCain, asked pointing to the forest behind Professor Ozpin. The young ConCain had voiced the same question running through everyone's mind at the sounds of gunfire, screaming, and explosions that echoed from various places in the Emerald Forest.

"One of your peers is already in the forest with her companion because there wasn't enough of the plates for them." Ozpin replied surprisingly having both hands on the top of his cane.

"Who is in the forest already?" Nora, an energetic teen, clad in pink asked to no one particular.

A short silence followed as people thought about who it could be. With the explosions and weapon firing it was obviously not Grimm that someone was fighting so who was it? Raysel studied the forest in thought. _What is going on Eve?_ She pondered. A twister of fire erupted deep within the forest catching everyone's attention. Echoing screams sounded off from the area of the twister. Shortly after explosions of water snuffed it out. In an instant the water turned into ice then dissipated into a cloud of water vapor, which cleared quickly. Even from where they were this was a type of battle many of them had never seen before.

From a spot near the twister's area rockets blazed forth swirling and aiming for a clearing. Most of the rockets were shot out of the sky by sprays of rifle fire. The ones that didn't get shot down weaved their way to a target. From the chain of explosions and flash formed shells of ice that the target was moving, and definitely not a Grimm. A giant ball of fire followed the missile barrage catapulting to a patch of tall trees, exploding into an inferno. The inferno died quickly scorching trees and creating a smoke cloud.

"As I said before, you will be graded on how you do and what you do within the boundaries of this test." Ozpin said turning his attention back to the gathered batch of prospective students.

"Allow me to put some rumors about teams to rest." Glynda commented stepping forward jotting some notes onto her Scroll as usual. "Teams will be chosen...today."

"What?" Ruby exclaimed sporting a shocked expression on her face.

"The objective of this initiation is to capture and secure a relic found at the ruins of an old temple, then bring it back to the cliff." Ozpin explained looking over the gathered teens. "Any questions?" With silence after as his answer the first sets of launch pads catapulted teens into the forest.

Jaune nervously raised his hand. "Um..sir...how do we, uh, land?"

Ozpin pushed up his glasses with a finger focusing on Jaune. "You will have to come up with your own landing strategy Mr. Arc." Ozpin replied then Jaune was sent into the forest by his launch pad. The professor's Scroll buzzed so he got it out and answered the call.

OoOooOoOOoOo

 _(first person POV)_

"We have a problem Ozpin." I growled into the open scroll. "I was attacked by mercenaries trying to put a bullet through my head."

"Mercenaries?" Ozpin replied perplexed. "How many of them are there?"

"I don't know." I answered and let go of my Scroll slowly. At first it began to fall but then hovered in the air. It stayed put as if I was holding it with a hand only I wasn't. Nice to know my Conduit powers work for things like that. "I think I killed them all, but not without injury." For emphasis I pointed to a bullet hole in my shoulder and several grazes on my arms and legs from near hits. "I'm sure you saw the fight from up there." I added with a light chuckle.

"We did." Ozpin replied before his face got serious. "How did they know what you looked like?" Ozpin asked his face unchanging, probably thinking behind a wall of calm.

"Well..." I shrugged then grit my teeth from the pain. Note to self: don't do that with a bullet hole through the shoulder. "They probably got an image of me from one of the news stations that got some video of me a while back."

Ozpin pinched the bridge of his nose. "I remember, but at least your name wasn't mentioned." He said then took a sip of that seemingly ever present mug of coffee.

"True, though that doesn't stop people from targeting someone." I replied picking up one of the dead mercs Scrolls. The fool hadn't password locked the device so I went looking through files on it. Most of them didn't interest me and after a minute I didn't find anything. Then I went through messages and found something. "This message doesn't say who hired the mercenaries but this file does have an image of me, and also tells the mercs to collect my corpse."

Ozpin's eyes narrowed as he looked down at something. There was a notable pause as he slowly breathed out a breath. When his eyes went to the screen I could see the anger in his eyes, even if he didn't show it otherwise. "I will have some of my contacts figure out who hired them, for now focus on initiation."

"Why the hell would a someone hire mercenaries to collect the body of a Conduit if they aren't a criminal?" I thought out loud as Grendel moved the bodies of the mercs into a pile, where I went through their stuff. They were quite loaded with weapons and plenty of ammo between the dozen of them. In addition to the rifle I snagged earlier I collected a pouch of grenades, a large canteen with water, some body armor, and two pistols with plenty of dust bullets for them and the other weapons.

"Many pay great sums of money to study the body of a Conduit, especially a Grimm Tamer such as yourself." Glynda answered stepping into view. "They desire that unique ability to bind and command Grimm that you have. Many also want to have power that is not reliant upon Dust to use."

"Makes sense." I commented grabbing my Scroll from the air. "Who wouldn't want an army of Grimm at their command? Or the ability to fight without the need for Dust?"

"Exactly." Glynda nodded. "As Professor Ozpin said focus on initiation, we'll look into the mercenaries."

I nodded then closed my Scroll stuffing it back into my pocket. Screaming caught my attention and brought it skyward. Several people went flying overhead at speed. So it begins... _Initiation has started, let's go find Raysel._

Grendel nodded his head then started to walk away from the clearing I had made with a fire twister. I followed him and snapped my fingers while concentrating on the two of us. I made us invisible by means of phasing us mostly out of sync with this dimension and partly in sync with a form of mirror world. With this method of travel only Beowolves could be able to tell if we were near them or not, or possibly a fellow Conduit.

Ten minutes later Grendel and I stopped at a river that was clear except for a small streak of dark red, almost like a clay red. Along the river's edge were corpses of seven Beowolves and two Ursa. They looked like they went through a spiked hell of ice with cuts, shards, and frost covering their shadowy bodies. By the edge of the river sat Raysel with her shirt off and a soaked cloth that she put on her side. The shirt had done a god job of obscuring her large chest that was supported by a solid black bra. That looked about the same size as mine, which was double D. Finding out that had been an interesting experience that led to lots of embarrassment for me and some for Glynda who had taken me cloths shopping that day for basic stuff. Glynda had take me to a number of stores to see what I liked and didn't like for bra and panties.

"Come on out Eve. I know you're there." Raysel said casually dipping the cloth back into the river leaving a stain in the slow moving water.

A snap of my fingers brought Grendel and myself back into reality. "How did you know I was there?" I asked before reaching a hand to my belt and taking a sip of water from the canteen I stole from one of the dead mercenaries.

Upon closer inspection the cloth was really a patch of moss tinted almost to the color of black from her blood. "I could smell you."

"I see." I commented noticing the color of her blood being far darker than normal. "I know you aren't a Faunus so what makes you different?"

"Well..." Raysel paused then with a ripple of energy her body shifted in form. The form she had was that of a large Beowolf covered in sectioned armor plating and spikes on the back. Bloody hell... She can shape shift into a Beowolf. That would definitely set you up as different from anyone else like being a Conduit. "As you can see I can assume the form of a Beowolf." She finished, her voice surprisingly unaffected by the change in form.

Somehow something told me that wasn't all. "That's not all is there?"

"Correct." She commented shifting back to human form. "I come from a family that for a long time has produced a type of being called a "Grimm Shifter" or "Grimmblood" which are not really human or Faunus. They have abilities and qualities that set them apart, ones that are similar to Conduits."

"So I can assume your senses are better for being a Grimm Shifter?"

"Yep." Raysel replied with a nod before putting her shirt back on. It was then that I noticed the healing claw marks and teeth marks on her arms, legs, and one across her belly. The black pants and t-shirt she wore were torn but still usable. "Let's head to the ruins Ozpin mentioned." Raysel added stretching her arms over her head.

Grendel and I nodded in unison then we walked off towards the mountains. Within a a few minutes we arrived at a ridge over looking a ruined temple with a series of pedestals, with a trail of Grimm bodies in our wake. On the ridge above the ruins were a five pitch black pedestals with veins of red streaking over it. On the tops of each was some sort white object that resembled an insectoid body, but from here I couldn't tell what type of bug.

"What are the white objects on the black pedestals?" I asked seeing Blake and Yang walk into the clearing that the ruins rested in. Yang waved at me with a smile while Blake simply nodded. Bringing up the rifle I held I looked down the scope at the white objects. Through it I discovered that the white things were in fact white miniatures of Death Stalkers. I suppose those would be for Grendel and I, as well as those who will be on my team. I looked to my right where Raysel ConCain stood. "I want you on my team, what do ya say?" I said putting my hand on her left shoulder while watching the ruins as some of the others filtered in. The gang was mostly gathered save for Ruby and Weiss who were I guess else where.

"Wouldn't want to be on any other team." Raysel replied putting a hand on my shoulder. A shriek called my attention to the sky where a giant Nevermore flew overhead. In the claws I could see Ruby struggling without Crescent Rose. Where is it? My answer nearly hit me on the head as the weapon smashed into the ground six inches in front of me. Thundering crashes alerted me to something to the right of the ruins. A giant Death Stalker chased after pyrrha trying to slice her with its claws. I raised my rifle and fired a spray of bullets at the giant Grimm making it skid to a stop at the unexpected attack. Again I pulled the trigger only for it to click empty.

With a sigh I dropped the weapon and rushed forward towards the spartan. Her green eyes observed me as I moved in a blur to block a swipe from the Death Stalker with my body. I grunted with the impact sliding a little from the force. Bloody hell it hits hard. Putting that aside I shoved the giant claw back then slammed myleft hand flat on the ground trapping most of the Grimm in ice.

"That'll hold it for now." I commented rolling my right shoulder to flex the joint ignoring the pain from the bullet hole. I could feel bruises on my arms from where the claw had impacted them.

"I've heard of the abilities of Conduits but I never thought I would encounter one at Beacon." Pyrrha said as her eyes scanned over my form, concern showing in them. "Thanks for the assist."

"I'm so glad we ran into you Eve." Jaune panted catching his breath. Poor bastard doesn't exactly have our level of stamina it seems. Other than that he was unharmed.

"Who...you?" The voice of Grendel rumbled from behind me. Jaune watched the Beowolf wearily while the spartan put a hand over her mouth, probably not sure what to say.

I glanced over my shoulder at him before silver eyes met mine. "You met Jaune, the blond, earlier." I said then his attention shifted to the other person in front of me. "You're Pyrrha Nikos right?" I said tentatively trying to seem as if I wasn't quite sure it was her. Of course I knew it was but I had an act to keep for a while.

"Yes." Pyrrha nodded. "I take it you've heard of me?"

"Something like that." I replied checking to see if the ice was in place, it was. Inside the ice the Death Stalker screeched angrily trying to move to no avail. "We have more pressing things to take care of." I added pointing up where the Nevermore circled with Ruby still holding onto a massive talon.

"Agreed." Pyrrha said then turned her attention to Jaune while I went over to the ruins and picked up three of the white Death Stalker miniatures. Grendel came over to me and stayed still so I could put two of the miniatures into a pouch attached around his waist. The third one I tossed to Raysel who put it into a side pouch on her belt.

"Incoming!" a male voice boomed loudly making my ears flinch and flatten. Immediately after that bellow the well built teen with azure eyes came into view along with something chasing him and the cat Faunus from earlier. The creature in question was large, far larger than a human with cat like agility. It growled and hissed at its claws missed the two runners. It looked like a giant angry lizard with white spikes and armor plating with crimson eyes. The creature was determined as it slowed slightly to jump onto a tree then launch itself at the pair. In a fluid motion the azure eyed teen brought swung one of the two axes on his back at the underside of the creature that had to be a type of Grimm. The blade of the ax sliced flesh making the creature roar in pain and flail around, crashing into the ground.

It thrashed for a few moments then faded out of sight. What the hell?! Everyone scanned the area but didn't see it. That ability seemed a lot like the invisibility I had weaved over Grendel and myself after the fight with the mercenaries. Grendel charged forward without me saying anything going for the Faunus. A large armored had smashed into something just behind the cat Faunus that let loose an angered hiss. The giant lizard phased back into view limping.

 _Kill it._ I commanded with the bound Beowolf taking a few steps towards the creature before it tackled him to the ground biting his shoulder. Grendel rolled to his left before throwing it of of him. I pulled out one of the two pistols on my hip and fired two quick shots that punched through the head of the Grimm as it hit a stone column. "What is that thing?" I asked keeping the pistol ready in case it decided to get back up.

"A Shadestalker." The azure eyed male said running a hand through his dark green hair. "I'm Nolan Quester by the way and this one here is Isabel Stelsa." Nolan said gesturing to the Faunus next to him. "They hunt in packs and are dangerous Grimm. This type of Grimm normally isn't so close to a Hunter Academy."

"So why is it? And where are the rest of its pack?" I asked checking the pistol's clip. I had only fired two rounds from its sixteen round clip of earth Dust bullets. I guess that type of Dust worked to be like armor piercing, making the bullet go through things easier. However that would be something I'd ask Rick when I get the chance. After all the man made weapons for a living so he'd probably know for sure, or could at least point me in the right direction.

Cracking brought everyone's attention back to the Death Stalker I had frozen. With a crash one pincer was freed. With its limb free it began to bash it on the ice that it could reach. At the sound of screaming I looked up to see both Ruby and Wiess falling. I ran forward leaping into the air to catch Weiss and holster the pistol hearing someone else catch Ruby. As soon as my feet landed on solid ground I saw Yang with her sister in her arms. A angry huff brought my attention to an oh sooo pleased Weiss in my arms. Ignoring her for the time being I felt stone with my tail so I looked down behind me. (A/N: I figure why not with a Wolf Faunus XD) Evidently I had landed on the only portion of the ruin still supported by pillars.

"Hey!" Weiss yelled at me. I grunted flattening my ears once again and before looking into her glacial eyes. "Put me down, now."

"Okay." I said tossing her down into Grendel's arms, a devious grin on my lips. Surprise lit her face for a few seconds before she landed in his arms. A pause ensued with a shiver. Weiss turned her head slowly to see the black fur of a Grimm. The heiress froze so Grendel put her down onto her feet gently before that head of his snapped to the forest border where Nolan and Isabel had entered the clearing. Almost a dozen Shadestalkers stood there ready to sprint forward. Well...this is going to be fun.

"Didn't the Professor say that there was something to pick up here?" Nolan asked sounding a little confused.

"Just grab the two Death Stalker Miniatures since that's the only things left here." Raysel explained. Out of the corner of my eye I saw her change form making Weiss shriek.

"What are you?!" Weiss shrieked.

I jumped down to the ground looking at the Death Stalker who broke the last bit of ice keeping it in place with a delighted screech. "Rasyel ConCain here is a Grimm Shifter." I explained.

"You look an awful lot like the wolf faunus I saw on the news a few weeks back." Isabel said quietly looking at me with a studying gaze.

"Yeah that was me." I replied with a sigh.

"What do we do now guys?" Yang said breaking into the conversation trying to keep an eye on both the Death Stalker and the Shadestakers.

"Simple." Ruby said causing all eyes to fall on her. "We take them out!" She finished enthusiastically.

"How are we going to-" Weiss was cut off by Nolan putting a hand over her mouth. Thank god she was silenced. I didn't need to hear more of her yelling at the moment, and that probably was the same for the others.

"We divide into groups and deal with the different Grimm that want our hides." Nolan said.

"Sounds good." I relied with a nod. "Ruby take Blake, Yang, and Weiss with you to deal with the big ass bird up there." Ruby nodded and left with the three I mentioned. She quickly sped back to us for her weapon then chased after her group. Turning to Jaune I said. "Take Pyrrha with you as well as these two and kill that over sized scorpion." With that they left in the same direction as Ruby and her group, along with a Death Stalker firmly pissed off at them.

"And us?" Raysel asked tilting her Beowolf head.

"Let's play with the over grown lizards." I said grinning. The Shadestalkers all hissed as a group earning a growl from me and Grendel while I pulled out the other pistol. The black scaly skin of the Shadestalkers gleamed in the sunlight for a few seconds, then they charged. A number of them immediately phased out of sight while the others attacked head on. The first few to reach us were ripped apart by Raysel and Grendel while I put careful shots into others. Two of them tried to bite Nolan on either side but he took off those axes of his and cut them. Sadly the Grimms used their front claws to slow the weapon and in combination with their jaws held them in place. That wasn't a god sign. These bastards were smart, they fought as a pack.

I emptied the pistols clips into both of the Shadestalkers and into a space next to Nolan's back. As I thought a Shadestalker phased in littered with bullet holes. Its lifeless body fell to the ground letting me see I had stained his shirt with black blood. His leg sported several scratches from claws. Holstering one pistol I reached to get another clip from a cargo pocket of my pants when I was sent to the ground. I let out a grunt as I hit the ground along with whatever had knocked me down. Hot breath and crimson eyes alerted me to the Grimm that had tackled me. It's claws dug into my shoulders and ground right before it lunged to bite me. With lightning reflexes I was able to grab the upper and lower jaw to stop it. I cut my fingers a little on the razor sharp teeth but I was able to stop its advance.

The Grimm hissed at me and pushed forward. I also pushed back against it keeping the Grimm's jaw from my neck. The Shadestalker was bloody strong, almost on par with the Death Stalker I had blocked earlier. With effort it was beginning to gain some ground. I strained trying to keep it's jaw back then an idea popped into my head. I focused some of my power into my arms strengthening them, allowing me greater feats of strength kinda like what Yang can do among other things. With that strength I stopped its slow advance then jerked the lower jaw downwards violently. The Shadestalker let loose with a gurgling screech that gave the one the Death Stalker let loose with a run for its money. The Grimm backed off while I planted my booted feet under it and shoved it off with force. It landed on another Shadestalker with a meaty smack. It flipped over then tried to put its jaw into place, but it wasn't making any progress.

"Get back!" I hollered grabbing a grenade from the grenade pouch at my waist. I pulled the pin and rolled it to the gathering of Shadestalkers that were surrounding their wounded pack member. Three seconds after rolling it I hit the deck eating dirt just before the grenade exploded. The blast mostly went over me but the aftermath didn't. Black blood and fleshy chunks of Grimm peppered us. Rolling over I looked at the spot where I had rolled the grenade. There was a small creator charred black along with the ground a meter or so around it. Just what was in the grenade? Lots of fire dust, or a combination of dust types? I shook my head. More questions to ask later.

"Damn Eve." Nolan commented coming out from behind a fallen over tree trunk that was peppered with shrapnel and bits of Grimm. "Where did you get your weapons?"

"I found them on mercenaries." I replied looking around for the others. An ice wall stood there to one side gleaming from all the bits of metal in it. Raysel peaked her head around one edge while Grendel poked his head over the top, yet another example of how tall the Beowolf was. My ears twitched at the sound of groaning. Using them I found a charred Shadestalker corpse and rolled it over. Under it was Isabel who looked winded. "You alright?" She nodded then took my hand to help her stand.

"Let's go back to-" Raysel was cut off by a booming animal like roar that shook the air. My vision bounced around a little from it for a few seconds before it straightened out. What in blazes was that? A shadow passed overhead with a large flying shape. The thing in question was flying and huge, possibly about the size of the Nevermore. Once it turned around and aimed at us I saw what the difference was. The bloody thing wasn't a giant bird but a flying lizard. I jumped sideways in time to avoid giant claws that tore apart the stone ruins with ease.

"Is that what I think it is?" I said watching the creature circle back around with a clear view of its back. To put it simply it had to be a dragon with massive wings, armored tail, and four powerful clawed limbs.

"A dragon." Isabel answered with a huff brushing dust off of her cloths.

Wonderful. I was correct after all. The dragon let out a blast of fire that went off in the distance to smash into something I couldn't see over the edge of the trees, but a loud bird like screech bellowed from the north. After the screech it came back our way and landed on the ground. The dragon was huge but not quite the size of the Nevermore that Ruby had managed to piss off somehow. It's white armor plated head and crimson eyes made me think Grimm but something about it was off. It didn't quite have the same feel as normal Grimm like a Beowolf or Ursa, though I felt power reside in it. How the hell is that possible? Putting that thought aside I though about our predicament and how Beacon choose the leaders for student squads.

As far as I knew from the show squad leaders were chosen by those out the group that showed leadership in a battle, or at least were the ones with plans and ideas. It might help if they can make their team work together to take out a difficult Grimm. Bring my attention back to the dragon camped in front of us I got an idea, one that was certifiably insane (as if this wasn't already).

"I have an idea." I said with a pause to get their attention. "Let's kill us a dragon." I said pounding a fist into my palm with a grin.

"You're insane." They all replied at the same time.

"And wanting to become someone who hunts giant armored monsters for a living isn't?" I countered hearing groans and a grunt. They knew I was right.

"What the hell." Raysel commented shifting shape to her Beowolf form again. "Why not?" She added excitement booming in her voice.

"I'm game, though it will not be easy Eve." Nolan said with a nod.

"Naturally." Isabel said then pulled out two daggers from her pockets. The blades were simple looking with a large hilt that her hands barely fit around. If I had to guess that hilt held a dust cartridge to augment the blade.

Thunder danced around my body as I infused it with power, or mana if someone felt like getting technical. Regardless of what it was called the powers of the universe, the energies that have created or destroyed planets, steadily answered the calls of Conduits. Hell the name for us came from the fact we controlled those energies and carried it with us, able to channel that power to do nearly anything we want. Grendel also had sparks over his body to augment his speed and have a chance to stun something when he hits it. I rushed forward hearing the others fallow me ready for combat.

OoOoOoOoOo

 _(third person OPV)_

At the cliff Professor Ozpin watched two groups of students finish off their Grimm opponents (pun intended). Ruby Rose and her group had engaged and killed a Giant Nevermore by the scythe wielder decapitating the massive Grimm. Meanwhile Jaune Arc and his group had killed a Death Stalker using its own stinger against it, after cutting it off from the tail thanks to Pyrrha Nikos.

"We have a problem Professor." Glynda said inputting commands into her scroll to bring up a video feed. Shortly after a video played on her scroll catching Ozpin's attention. The video had a clear view of the cloudless sky before a shadow darkened the screen. It took a few seconds for the shadow to pass, before an air born being came into view. The camera caught view of a scaly underside to a large winged creature. The flying creature ignored the camera and went far away from it. Once said creature was almost too small to see the video stopped. "That video was taken yesterday from a sensor far to the north. It was a young dragon."

Crashing and roaring caught the attention of the two professors making them look away from the scroll to the distance. Far off in the forest was a dragon on the ground smashing things with its front paws and breathing out fire or ice at times. Near its visible mouth blasts of frost or fire bounded off of the Grimm's heavy armor plating. Suddenly a barrage of explosive rounds hammered into the dragon's snout making it back its head with surprise.

"What is the dragon fighting?" Ozpin asked keeping steady watch on the dragon. It was clear that whatever had its attention was putting up a challenge to the powerful Grimm.

The Headmaster of Beacon heard Glynda tap some more commands into her Scroll before silence. "There is only one team missing, the others have been collected and are on their way to Beacon."

"Which team?" Ozpin asked though from the way the Dragon was fighting it had to be something other than Grimm. The varying explosions and different elements clashing also told him it was humans, and not normal ones at that. Something told him that it was the Wolf Faunus he knew all to well. That young woman was hard to predict in combat, one that made strategies on the spot and never really stuck to formal combat.

"The one that corresponds to the white Death Stalker miniatures." Glynda said looking back to the battle far in the distance. "I suspect that Eve is fighting the dragon."

Ozpin's eyebrow arced up, the only sign of surprise on his face. _Will you live Eve, or will I have to bury another group of potential students because of a dragon?_ The gray haired man mused. Sometimes his job wasn't as rewarding as it sounded. "Prepare an attack aircraft to deal with the Dragon in case Eve and her group can not kill it."

"Very well." Glynda responded relying the message to a nearby military base. Her eyes roamed back to the dragon that roared before its head was beat back exposing its neck. In the following moment giant arcs of ice bit into the soft armor drawing blood. Maybe there was hope for the Conduit and her group.

OoOoOoOoOo

 _(First person POV)_

Black blood coated the trees at the border of the clearing that the dragon had made trying to swipe its claws at us. The dragon had a weakness; the armor on its underside was apparently softer the the top. That last attack of arced ice blades hurt it, but we were another story. I had several large scrapes that I had cauterized to keep them from bleeding while a number of places on my body were bruised. Isabel was bruised and beaten but the least injured of us. Raysel sported a lot of the damage with a broken, if healing, arm and splinters from the wrecked trees. Nolan had numerous scrapes and bruises since his aura had gone in the red not long after the dragon had frozen the area with ice then roasted it to create a hot fog. Grendel was beaten pretty bad though I could sense he didn't have anything broken. But he wasn't in good shape with claw marks and body bruising.

"We need a new game plan." Raysel yelled jumping out of the way of another swipe. "This is getting us nowhere!"

At this rate we'd be outlasted by the dragon simply because it wasn't taking much damage aside from that last attack. Our current position the forest did a good job of protecting the majority of its underside. We needed to expose that somehow. I rolled under a claw swipe aimed at me only pissing off the dragon more, causing it to roar in frustration. Without warning the dragon slammed one closed paw down causing us to go up in the air a little. I heard movement right before something large and armored crashed into my side, sending me up into the air. On the way up I coughed up blood feeling like my ribs were on fire. Then I saw the cliff with the tower ruins and the remains of a giant Nevermore. That was it!

"I got you!" Nolan hollered not long before I landed in his arms wincing at the impact. I was going to be very sore from this tomorrow. "Any ideas?"

I nodded then he set me on my feet. "We need to lure it to the cliff over there." I said loudly pointing to where Ruby and Pyrrha's two groups had run off. "We'll pin it to the cliff then kill the scaly bastard."

"Go." Grendel said then took off running for the cliff followed by the rest of us. The dragon wasn't going to let us pass easily. It tried to crush us with its tail several times before I flicked my wrist to send a shard of ice into its exposed eye. In slow motion I saw the dragon try to move realizing something was heading its way. The stake of ice stabbed into the eye deeply spewing blood. The world snapped into focus as a claw sliced up my backside making me trip forward. However I rolled with the blow and got back onto my feet ignoring the ever building pain in my body. The body armor I had salvaged earlier was now useless so I took off the two halves and kept running.

I glanced back to see the dragon thrashing about in pain. A grin formed on my lips. The distraction had worked. A few minutes later we arrived at the ruins I remembered from the show, but I had failed to realize there were a few problems. One, the bridge that went to the tower was gone into the chasm below. Two, most of the outer structures of the tower were gone. Lastly the tower itself was barely there.

"This is going to be harder than I thought." I grumbled. First things first, deal with the bridge. I knelt down next to the edge that used to have a bridge here and put my hands on the ground. After a moment a bridge of earth formed at my command. I got up and wiped sweat from my brow. This and the fight with the dragon was taxing, I needed to end this or we'd probably die out here. I ran across the conjured bridge to the tower stopping at the center of it. Again I put my hands down flat and concentrated. In my mind I conjured up an image of the tower and imagined platform like spikes jutting out of the walls. I felt one start to form right before something whacked my head. Opening my eyes I looked up to see the dragon's jaw over the top of the tower remains. I brushed my hand over the items around my belt and stopped once I touched the bag of grenades.

"Eve!" Nolan shouted his voice full of warning. I could hear the stone of the tower crack and give way as the dragon tried to close its mouth. I quickly untied the grenade bag from my waist making sure to keep one out in my pocket. I closed the bag then threw it up to the dragon's mouth. The stone finally gave way for the dragon to close its mouth. As I suspected the dragon swallowed the grenade bag and stone, then looked at me. I pulled the pin of the grenade from my pocket throwing it at the dragon. With a quick snap the primed grenade went down its throat. I hit the deck seeing the others follow suit. Only a few moments later a muffled explosion sounded before something splashed onto the tower, and soaking me with it.

"Damn it." Raysel cursed causing me to get up and look at the dragon. It had coughed up a lot of blood but there wasn't any visible exterior wound. At least the Grimm was stunned. I began to gather power once again this time around me causing my body to glow a faint orange. "Pin it." I ordered. Raysel looked at me then focused on the stunned dragon. She shifted back to human form and produced a focused blast of energy that hit the Grimm dead center. She then weaved her hands through the air as the Grimm smacked into the side of the cliff, trapping it. She was breathing hard but held onto strands of solid energy in her hands tightly.

"Nolan! Give me an ax!" I shouted before he tossed me one of his axes. The weapon was sturdy and heavy with a sharp blade that could slice clean through a tree. This would do for cutting off that scaly head. Problem was, how did I get over to there? I knew Weiss could walk on air using her glyphs if need be. Question was could I replicate that? I sighed. Only one way to know. I focused energy into hovering circles that made a walkway of sorts to the exposed neck of the dragon. I crouched to build up enough energy to jump to the first of the glyphs I had conjured. I landed on it but the glyph sunk a little so I exuded energy around me making it stay I place. With that sorted out I charged full speed along the line getting ready to decapitate the dragon. Tightening my grip on the weapon I formed an extra length of blade out of energy that glowed a bright blue.

I let out a battle shout as I brought up the weapon for a swing form my left side putting everything into it. The ax hit hard slicing through the meaty flesh and weakened armor plating. Even though it went in and was cutting the blade began to slow down as it hit some sort of skeleton or something. I tried to force it forward but the damn thing was stuck. I growled before forming a glyph under my feet to push from. I growled pushing the weapon, using my anger to channel even more power to the weapon and its extension. At first it didn't budge then something cracked allowing the weapon to go through it. I twisted in the air with the weapon and watched the head fall down into the chasm below. I caught sight of the energy strings that held the body vanish and for Raysel to fall to a knee. I landed and stuck the weapon in the ground with the handle in front of me to keep me from falling down into that fog layered chasm.

Once I turned away I sat down yawning. It didn't take long for me to hear an airship approach and pick up Raysel and the others at the ruined tower then me. Nolan freed his ax from the ground and put it on his back before helping me stand. He slung one of my arms over his shoulder. On the trip back to Beacon I took the opportunity to nap. Not long after I closed my eyes someone had nudged my shoulder. Opening my eyes it was Raysel who looked at me with a hand on my shoulder.

"Come on lets go." She said helping me to my feet and letting me lean on her to walk. I didn't exactly feel a good portion of my body since those parts of me were numb but what I did feel was sore as all get out. We left the air pad and made our way over to the auditorium where everyone was gathered. On stage I saw Professor Ozpin in the spotlight with Glynda just outside of the light near him. Towards the back I could make out three different groups of people thanks to being a Faunus. Cardin and his friends stood in the front, Ruby and her group was in the back leaving Jaune and them in the middle.

"You four collected the white knight pieces. Cardin Winchester, Sky Lark, Dove Bronzewing, and Russle Thrush. You will be team CRDL lead by Cardin Winchester." Ozpin said generating a smug smile from Cardin before he and his team left the stage after getting an applause. Up next was Jaune's group who stopped in the spot light. Phyrrha looked alright like the spotlight didn't bother her. Given her past as a tournament champion that isn't surprising. Jaune looked nervous as hell up there. Poor bastard probably wasn't used to that kind of thing and looked like he'd rather be elsewhere. I could see he was tense and once his bright blue eyes found mine he visibly calmed down a little. The third person in line wearing pink, Nora Valkire, was barely able to contain her energy. She was almost bouncing in place with excitement. Ren on the other hand was quite chill at the end of the line. He didn't seem bothered one way or another, but kept an eye on Nora.

"This way." Raysel said quietly knowing I'd hear her. She pulled me to the left side where Nolan and Isabel were waiting with Grendel sitting at their feet. The stairs were not kind to my sore muscles but I went up them anyway with Raysel's help. As we reached them I put my hand on Grendel's lowered head to scratch an ear.

"You four retrieved the black knight pieces. Pyrrha Nikos, Jaune Arc, Nora Valkire, Lei Ren. You will be team JNPR led by Jaune Arc." Ozpin said then another round of claps roared from the gathered students. Hell Nolan and the others clapped too quietly. Pyrrha tapped his shoulder with her fist lightly, probably some form of congratulations. Jaune on the other hand was even more nervous, if that was possible. After a few more moments of being in the light Jaune and them left giving us waves and smiles. Pyrrha gave a content happy smile while Jaune gave a half arsed one. I guess not quite sure what to feel.

Out of the corner of my eye I saw Ruby and her group walk forward into the light. "You four retrieved the black rook pieces. Blake Belladona, Yang Xiao Long, Weiss Schnee, and Ruby Rose. You four will be team RWBY led by Ruby Rose." Professor Ozpin said making Weiss freeze on the spot while Ruby damn near jumped with excitement. I knew why Weiss had frozen, she was pissed at not being chosen for team lead. Though that's another problem to deal with at a later date.

"This year I decided to make a special team which includes a Conduit." Ozpin said earning surprised expressions from the crowd. Many of them shouted various things along the lines of "What do you mean special team?" or "who are a part of the team?". Ozpin looked in our direction somehow silencing the crowd. How the hell can he do that with a look?

"Can you walk?" Raysel asked then I nodded. She removed my arm from her shoulder slowly. "Our turn." She added looking at Ozpin. He nodded then the five of us made our way into the light. It was bright enough to make me flinch an eye closed. Several people nearly said something but stopped when they no doubt saw our combined injuries. Unlike the previous teams we sported a lot of wounds from initiation.

"You five retrieved the white Death Stalker miniatures from the ruins. Nolan Quester, Isabel Stelsa, Raysel ConCain, Eve, and Grendel. You five will be team ERIN lead by the Conduit Eve." I looked at Ozpin who let a small smile slip onto his face as he nodded at me. Both Nolan and Raysel put a hand on either shoulder. I glanced to either of them receiving nods of approval. After Ozpin's statement the crowd clapped for us like they did the others. They stopped once the light shining on us turned off signaling the crowd to disperse. I was about to leave for the house when Ozpin tapped his cane on the floor once.

"What's up Ozzie?" I said turning to see a grin on his face from the nickname I sometimes used with him, though Glynda glared at me. She hated it when I did that since it was "inappropriate" and "childlike". It was kinda nice really. This was one simple way to get at her without really doing much since Ozpin didn't mind the nickname at all.

"As you may have heard from one of your brothers miss ConCain teams sleep in student dorms. However your team is a special case." Ozpin said as Glynda watched us closely.

"What exactly do you mean professor?" Raysel said confused.

Before Ozpin could reply I said. "You'll be living in an underground house built for me and Grendel. There's more than enough rooms for you guys."

"I suggest you go to the house and get some rest Eve." Ozpin said then accepted a mug of coffee from Glynda. Where in blazes did that come from? We began to walk away as I heard him speak. "Congratulations on killing a young dragon."

I smiled at the praise I heard in his voice. "Thanks." I replied leaving the room. Fifteen minutes later I stopped at a hill just outside of the garden that surrounds Beacon. The hill looked normal with bright green grass, but it had a door built into a side of it. This was where I lived when Ozpin had trained me and taught me as much as he could about the world in two months. I never really retained most of that, the combat lessons were about the only thing I didn't forget. The house I lived in was built into the side of the hill and extended past it underground. When designing it I had it built like the Hobbit holes form the lord of the rings. It was easy to maintain and keep at a comfortable temperature, plus it was built with Grendel's height and size in mind. Once at the door I got out my scroll to unlock it then let the others through.

The interior of the house had wood walls with carpet flooring just so I don't happen to slip on wooden floors with socks on. Did that a fair few times, which did earn me bruises. However those incidents had all been back home. I had chosen the colors to be a calming wooden brown since white walls would remind me too much of where I came from. And I also didn't like to see that much white in a house. At the front door was a large open hallway and greeting area with a hallway to the right and another one to the left that led to the living room. I went down the right hallway with the others following.

"This hallway leads to the bedrooms which are each the size of a master bedroom and include their own bathroom." I explained passing by six doors, three on each side of the hallway. The doors were spaced equally apart and matched the other one across from it. Just past the third pair of doors were a pair of see through folding doors which were closets that held excess towels and such. "These two folding doors hide closets that have extra blankets, towels, washcloths, and dish towels. The door at the end of the hallway is my bedroom which is connected to Grendel's room." I finished pointing at the door resting at the end of the hallway and the one to the right of it on the right side of the hallway.

"Where's the kitchen?" Raysel asked right before her stomach growled. I shook my head and led the way again. This time we went down the hall past the front door. Shortly after passing it a right turn opened up to a large spacey kitchen. I had insisted on this since I've dealt with small kitchens too many times at back on earth. The floor of the kitchen was cold tile, yet another substance I probably won't be slipping on any time soon. The counters in here were solid marble that was a dark green color. It was surprising when I saw it at the time Ozpin and I supervised the furnishing of my new home. He didn't really spare no expense for what I wanted. In the center of the kitchen rested an island with several burners and Cabinets underneath it.

"Wow." Isabel commented sounding awed.

"Over there is the living room with a giant screen for playing all sorts of games on." I said snagging an apple from a basket on the counter by the fridge. That monster sat close to the living room line at the end of a counter. The living room was nearly the size of a in home theater with open space in front of a large long couch and a lazy chair on either side of it. There was no wall to separate the end of the kitchen and the beginning of the living room aside from the floor switching back to carpet. "Choose your rooms and make sure to let me know with a sign or something whose room is which." I said before devouring the apple quickly. Apples are one of my favorite snacks. If I'm not careful I can eat a dozen or more apples in the same day. I paced the kitchen and stopped in front of the duel sink where a compost chute rested to the right of it. Once the apple was little more than a core I dropped it down the chute where it would go to a compost pile.

I headed to my room to take a hot shower. It took me longer than I'd like since I had to go slow over the scratches and scrapes I had cauterized. On the larger ones the water reopened them, making the wounds bleed. I cleaned those out gritting my teeth through the pain of the soap in the wounds, but at least they'd be clean. After finishing the shower I dried myself off and slipped on undergarments and a pair of shorts shorts before getting into bed for some much needed sleep.

* * *

This fic originally had a set paring between Erran and Pyrrha, but after reading Shadow-Labrys's fan fiction "RWBY: Love Is In The Air" I have thought about maybe doing a yuri harem instead of different vaired parings. What do you guys think? Leave a review with you thoughts on some things will be explained later like what happened to the weapons I had described Raysel carrying.

Another question for you fans or readers: Are you guys fine with Shadestalker for the name of the large lizard Grimm or should it be different? if so please give me a suggestion in a review (since Shadestalker was all I could come up with- partly because of its ability for stealth).

As a heads up there will be a bit of time before I post the next chapter to Conduit since I'm going to finish up chapter eleven for Wolf God, my Freezing fan fiction and take some time to work on my own projects. Lastly happy holidays guys, even if I'm a few days late saying this.


	3. Academy Struggles

Here we are with chapter three of Conduit, and back from my little break. Once again I managed to hit 18 pages in OpenOffice. I am still not quite sure who will be paired with Erran, so I'd like to ask you guys. Should Pyrrha Nikos be with her, Winter Schnee (only cause I like older women for the most part, plus she is good looking anyway in my eyes), or have a yuri harem? And if I haven't mentioned that before I am sorry, this story will have a yuri relationshipp with Eve and someone at the very least. Lastly I changed my own timeline a bit with how I forged this chapter so dark things will happen a lot sooner than I had originally planned. read, enjoy, and review. now onto the story...

* * *

The next morning was not kind to me. I didn't really sleep much due to the pain, but then again I don't get much sleep anyway. I was groggy but with a yawn I slowly got out of bed. Once sitting upright on the edge of the bed I popped my neck getting several loud cracks in reply. Getting dressed wasn't too difficult through it was slow so I wouldn't hurt myself more by accident. Beacon's school uniform was a lot more comfortable than I had originally thought it would be. However having been born a guy before being "reborn", if you will, as a female the skirt was an interesting and strange feeling, but I preferred pants whenever possible.

I looked over my room which like the rest of the house was spacious, namely for the Beowolf. On the far wall opposite of the dresser I stood next to was a metal door that connected to Grendel's den. His den was a kind of cave like room with artificial moss for a floor that felt like the real thing. To the left of the door to Grendel's den rested a weapon closet that would be where I'd store my weapons that Rick was making for me. At the end of the right wall (as I enter my bedroom) was the doors to a walk in closet. Ozpin had been surprised when I asked to have that built into each of the bedrooms of the house but he didn't object, much to my surprise and delight. I've always been a fan of those since I've had to deal with small or shallow closets before. Next to that at the far end of the room from the bedroom door sat a king sized bed. The bathroom was located opposite of the walk in closet, so if I was laying in bed I'd look to the right to see the bathroom and left for the closet.

"Eve, you dressed yet?" Nolan said on the other side of the door.

"I am." I replied then Nolan entered the room holding the door nob. At this I raised an eyebrow.

"We're late to our first class, lets go." Nolan informed me.

At least we'd have Professor Port for our first class. I had only met the guy once and he seemed alright. Just like in the series Professor Port was a little on the heavy side with a round belly. "Okay." I said then we left for class. A long ten minutes later we arrived at Professor Port's classroom. I grabbed the handle of the door and began to push feeling pain swell up in my arms causing me to growl a little. Grendel gently nudged me aside as he pushed open the door with ease. At the sound of the door to the classroom opening everyone looked in our direction.

"This is a pleasant surprise." Professor Port beamed as his eyebrows shot up. His mustache was large enough to practically hide his mouth. The veteran huntsmen wore that odd brownish red suit type thing that I had seen in the series, as well as the time I first met him. "I wasn't expecting to see you and your team today Eve."

"I typically find moving around with sore muscles better than laying around doing nothing." I commented as my team entered the room with someone closing the door.

"I see." Port said with a pause. "How do you feel?"

I shrugged through the pain wincing as I did it. "I don't feel much of my body other than pain and soreness."

"Did we miss anything professor?" Raysel asked getting to the matter at hand, what we did (or didn't) miss of his class.

"No." Port answered. Looking around I saw an empty space for the five of us across from where Ruby's team sat. We took the empty seats with Grendel next to the wall and me to his left then Nolan, Isabel, and lastly Raysel at the side middle isle. Once we had settled into our seats Professor Port resumed his lesson, assuming that's what it was and not one of his "glory day" stories. "As I was saying earlier is there someone in this room who feels that they have the qualities of a Huntsmen or Huntress?" He said looking collectively at the class with an expectant pause.

A few moments after that Weiss's hand shot up. "I believe I do professor."

"Alright miss Schnee, you may change to face your challenge." Professor Port said before the heiress quickly left the room. It was then that I noticed the cage by the left side of the room in front of the seats. It obviously held something by the way the cage shook as whatever was inside tried to get out. Next to the cage rested Port's weapon, a rifle that doubled as an ax or so it looked like. Booted steps brought my attention to the door where Weiss entered dressed in her "combat skirt" as she called it in the series. Her rapier was attached at her waist before she drew it out with her left hand. Since Weiss was standing in the middle of the floor before the desks we all could see her and the cage off to the side. With a nod from Weiss Professor Port grabbed his ax and cut the padlock that held the metal chains on the cage.

A snort sounded off before the door to the cage swung open to reveal an annoyed Boarbatusk. It looked around pausing briefly on me and Grendel then focused on the human in front of it. The Grimm jumped up then rolled into an armored ball that raced towards Weiss. Said heiress jumped over the Boarbatusk with flip landing on her feet at the same time the Grimm bashed into the side of the classroom. The wall didn't have much of a mark on it from the tusks of the Grimm, but it did stun the creature briefly. As the Grimm shook its head Weiss just stood there watching it. Now would be the perfect time to attack the Boarbatusk to kill it, or knock it over and then kill it. A few moments after starting to shake its head the Grimm turned around to face Weiss. What an idiot.

The Boarbatusk charged at Weiss who took the hit inadvertently getting her rapier stuck in the tusks of the Grimm. She struggled to get Myrtenaster free of the tusks. This went on for almost a minute or so before the Grimm swung its head violently to the side sending the weapon flying out of Weiss's hands and the tusks. However there was one problem, Myrtenaster was launched at me. With a snap of my fingers a glyph, or rather a simple circle with a ring of tribal lines running around the edge and a star in the center, materialized stopping the rapier. At this the entire room went silent. Weiss stared at me and the glyph in front of me that held her weapon with shock, like everyone. The Boarbatsuk on the other hand seemed to be entranced if that was the right word since it had stopped fighting Weiss for the moment.

"What will you do without your weapon?" Professor Port inquired before time seemed to resume for the class. Weiss back flipped away from the Grimm putting distance between it and her. I stood up grabbing the rapier to dispel the glyph before tossing Myrtenaster at the heiress.

Weiss caught the weapon with ease keeping an eye on the Grimm. "It has no armor on its belly!" Ruby shouted out giving Weiss some much needed info it seemed. Isn't she supposed to know this before coming here? At that slight distraction the Boarbatusk charged only to slam into one of Weiss's glyphs. That knocked it onto its back allowing her to jump back onto a black colored glyph and stab Myrtenaster into the Grimm's exposed belly killing it.

"Well done!" Professor Port said then Weiss took her seat to Blake's right. I saw her look at me with some form of determination, or maybe it was shock still. I got the feeling that she'd want to talk to me later. I turned back to Port right as he went on again about his glory days so I promptly put my head on the desk and went to sleep. I was woken up by someone shaking my shoulder. Green hair greeted my eyes followed by azure eyes coming into view.

"Class is over, lets head to the next one." Nolan said then I sat up stretching with a yawn. Like the others I got up and left the room for the next class. The classes were pretty boring with the first day stuff, so I napped through them. Luckily for lunch my team was one of the early groups to the cafeteria. We claimed the far corner that gave me a great view of both entrances to the cafeteria.

We all sat in silence for a minute to eat before I broke it. "Were you able to recover your weapons Raysel?"

Raysel reached into a pocket and fished out something. That something turned out to be a twisted scrap of metal. "The dragon tore them all to pieces or melted them so I'll have to make new ones or buy some." Raysel explained.

"Are your axes working for you Nolan?" Might as well go through their weapons since I still hadn't gotten mine though I would in two more days.

"They're still working, but you almost fried the one I lent you to chop off the dragon's head." Nolan said making me raise an eyebrow. "The weapon wasn't meant to have a Conduit channel their powers into it. However that can be fixed with some adjustment, which I've already got going."

"There is no real damage to my daggers if you were wondering." Isabel said quietly before taking a drink of milk from the glass in front of her.

"That's good." I replied taking a bite from a slice of pizza. Without warning something grabbed my tail making me tense up. I turned ready to sucker punch whoever had done it till I saw that it was a child. What are little kids doing here? I tried moving my tail but the runt had a good grip on it, then I noticed the cat ears. The kid was young at maybe no more than 5 and looked a bit like Isabel did. "Would you let go of my tail kid?" I asked as politely as I could even though I just wanted to forcibly free it from his grasp.

"Erik, let go of her tail." Isabel said with a gentle but commanding tone. I watched as the kid's green eyes went to someone behind me then back to mine before he let go. "What are you and your brother doing here?"

"We got bored." Another kid answered from behind me. Glancing over my shoulder I saw another young boy who looked very much like the one who had grabbed my tail. Though he was a tad more muscular at least for a five year old.

Isabel sighed. "I know you two get bored but you need to say there until I get you." she said wrapping an arm around the boy next to her.

"But mom-"

"No buts." Isabel cut Erik off. These two are her kids? Just how old is she?

"How old are you Isabel?" I asked looking at her rustle the hair of the boy next to her.

"Twenty." She replied. "Ozpin allowed me to attend here after I had a talk with him."

 _The White one is coming._ Grendel commented and sure enough I heard the clicking of her boots on the floor heading right for me.

I turned to face her just in time to have Weiss point a finger at me. "How are you able to create a glyph?" She nearly yelled at me with a glare. I remained silent watching her, noticing that Erik wasn't near my tail.

"Do you not know what I am Schnee?" I growled staring into those icy blue eyes of hers.

"Calm down Weiss." Yang commented pulling the heiress back with one hand.

"I won't." Weiss shot back trying to get closer to me, though with Yang having a grip on her uniform that won't happen. "Only the Schnee family can create glyphs yet you did so earlier. Just what are you?" her voice getting more irritated as she spoke.

With a sigh I snapped my fingers confusing Weiss who hadn't expected that action. "I'm a Conduit, human." I said slowly watching her tilt her head to the side.

"And that means?"

I smirked showing a fang. "Look at your feet."

When she looked her expression was priceless. Pure shock brightened her face as if a bolt of lightning had impacted just in front of her. "What the?!" Weiss yelled seeing ice that encased the bottom of her boots, keeping her in place along with Yang's grip on her uniform.

"Freezing your boots like that is nothing for me." I said putting my face near hers. "I'm the one who fought a dragon without any Dust, and beheaded it."

"So it is true then." Blake commented drawing our attention. "You are one of the few people to kill a young dragon."

"They helped too." I said gesturing to my team behind me.

"I'm curious, how do you know my name?" Blake asked making me freeze up. Shit. I should have been prepared for this after mentioning her name yesterday.

Maybe I could chalk it up to hearing her name from the night the others stayed in the ballroom, even though I hadn't been there? I hoped she wasn't good at spotting lies. "I heard your name while in the ballroom the night before initiation." I answered. Blake's eyes never left mine as she mulled it over then nodded.

"How are you feeling?" Someone said from behind Yang. Looking past the blond brawler I was greeted with a smile from Pyrrha and waves from the other members of JNPR.

I turned back to sit down followed by the others sitting at the end of the table with us. Erik came back over by me to avoid Weiss who looked irritated after my little show. I grabbed the back of his shirt and lifted him to sit on the end of the bench to my right

"Thanks." He muttered quietly looking dead at the table and no where else.

I patted his head twice before taking more bites of my food. "I don't feel half of my body right now and what I do feel is sore." I said answering Pyrrha's question.

"I should put some more bio-gel on your wounds." Raysel commented. I looked at her with a raised eyebrow. "Its a medical gel developed by my family that quickens healing and seals wounds, plus it works better on Grimmbloods and Conduits then it does with humans or Faunus."

That would be helpful in the future. After that I finished my food and had small talk about the how classes had gone for the day. We did that until lunch ended and headed for our next classes while Isabel led her sons presumably back to the day care center here, assuming it was called that. The classes like before were more of the boring stuff that happened on the second day of the term. However when we got out of our final class Erik and his brother had managed to get out again from where they had been earlier. Isabel and Nolan decided to take a walk with the boys around campus leaving me to wander while Raysel went back to the house with Grendel.

"Why didn't I get named leader by Professor Ozpin? I should have been made leader not Ruby." I heard Weiss say from somewhere near me. It didn't take me long to find her standing next to a small garden patch with two stone benches.

"There is a reason why she was named leader, Weiss." I said leaning on one side of the doorway to the balcony like area.

"I deserve to be leader of the team not her." Weiss shot at me, anger in her icy eyes.

"That's one reason." I commented pointing at her. "You don't get anything by demanding it, you have to earn it."

"She's younger than me!" Wiess said spreading her arms. "She shouldn't even be here."

I sighed. She sounded like a kid throwing some sort of temper tantrum, or the rich kid used to getting whatever they asked for. "It doesn't matter that Ruby is younger than you. Ozpin asked if she wanted to attend here so I believe he saw something in her. Besides Ruby showed the qualities of a leader." I countered.

"What are the qualities of a leader according to you?"

Now that was an intelligent question. "Leaders are those that regardless of sex can evaluate a situation and formulate a plan of action, even in the thick of fighting. They are flexible and open to suggestions as well as do their damnedest to keep their team alive through a mission."

"I don't think Ru-"

I cut her off. "Who was it among you that came up with the plan to behead the Giant Nevermore?" Wiess opened her mouth then shut it. She bit her lip in annoyance, knowing I was right. "It was Ruby wasn't it? If she hadn't thought it up that Grimm may have likely killed you and the others." I growled hammering in my point.

"I see." Weiss said slowly taking a few deep breaths before letting them out. "Do you think Jaune is leader material too?"

"As much as Ruby, though he doesn't seem to have much confidence in himself." I replied then yawned as I stretched my arms over my head. "Ozpin isn't immune to making mistakes like the rest of us, so give Ruby some time to show you that she is a leader. In the mean time try to be someone she can depend on if need be." With that I left to give Weiss some time to think over my words and headed to the house. Over the next month I noticed that Weiss had taken my advice and was giving Ruby time to prove herself in her eyes. It was nice since they seemed to get along better. During that time everyone from teams JNPR and RWBY had become friends with my entire team, even to the point that Isabel's two boys liked to be around them.

That progress was good, but my facade that I was someone from out in the Grimm dominated countryside was cracking. It was mostly evident through school work, namely Professor Oobleck's history class and tests. There was only so much that had stuck from Ozpin's knowledge jam sessions over two months before the start of the term. At least today I might be able to guess answers to questions Oobleck might ask since he was going to cover one of the battles form the Faunus War.

"Can anyone tell me what many think is the turning point in the the war?" Oobleck said looking over the classroom sipping from his mug of coffee.

"The battle at Fort Castle." I answered before anyone else could.

"Correct." Oobleck chirped quickly zooming to another position in the front of the classroom. "What advantage did the Faunus have over General Lagoon's forces?"

A quiet click reached my ears causing me to look to the left side of the classroom seating. A tiny flying object smacked into the back of Jaune's head causing the sleepy blond to wake up. "What was that?" He mused drawing the attention of our teacher.

"Finally participating in class Mr. Arc?" Oobleck inquired leaning close to Jaune. "Can you tell me what advantage the Faunus had over General Lagoon's forces?"

"Uh..." He paused. I could see the wheels in his head turning. Would he actually come up with the right answer? "Binoculars?" At this the class laughed while I face palmed. Man, he was as hopeless as I remember from the show.

"Amusing answer Arc." Oobleck said barely masking a slight smirk behind drinking more coffee. "Care to share you're thoughts on this Carden?" He added as I watched the asshole lean back and put his feet up on the desk.

His eyes scanned the room before locking on mine. "It's easier to train an animal than a soldier."

I narrowed my eyes at him and let out a low growl. I guess he wasn't quite as much of a coward as I had thought. "You've never seen what happens when an animal snaps, have you?" I said keeping myself calm, even if he did a good job of annoying the hell out of me.

"Does anyone know the advantage the Faunus had?" Oobleck asked though he kept an eye on Cardin and me. Cardin scoffed and looked towards the front of the room clearly bored while I sighed and turned my attention back to him.

"Night vision." Blake and I said at the same time. "Most Faunus like myself have nearly perfect vision in the dark." I added getting another nod from the professor.

He zoomed next to his his desk then put down the mug he had been holding. "That's it for today, Arc and Winchester are to stay after class for additional lecture." With that the class dispersed out the door. I stood up then left the room walking quickly passing teams JNPR and RWBY. I stopped by the cafeteria to get a snack then went out to the Emerald Forest to train with my team as usual.

OoOoOoOoOoOo

"Eve is kind of strange." Ren commented as his team and RWBY were all gathered in his team's dorm room.

"Naturally." Weiss said waving a hand upwards lazily in front of her. "She's a wolf Faunus and a Conduit."

"That's not the only thing that about her that's odd." Pyrrha said drawing everyone's attention. "From what I've noticed Eve has varying levels of success for classwork. Sometimes she does okay and other times she doesn't."

"Maybe she's one of those who don't exactly do well at school?" Yang offered only receiving silent stares from the others. "I've seen her bomb tests or do mediocre on them."

Pyrrha shrugged. "Yet, she does very well in Professor Goodwitch's combat class."

"I get the feeling that she is hiding something from all of us." Blake said thinking back to when she had first met the Conduit. "I remember during Initiation that she somehow already knew my name, though that was the first time I saw her."

"Now that you mention it." Pyrrha said thinking back to then. "Eve knew who our groups were before Ozpin formed them and told us to take on the Grimm we defeated. She seemed to know that we would win."

"She may be hiding something from us, but we can't go and ask her what that is." Ren said as Nora laid back on the bed her and Ren occupied.

Silence once again crept into the room as they sat there thinking. "We can beat it out of her!" Nora cheerfully commented with a grin.

"That kinda sounds like a good idea." Yang commented with a smirk.

Weiss face palmed. Leave it to the brawler to think fighting a Conduit was a good idea. "Eve is a Conduit, and don't forget she beheaded a young dragon." Weiss said wiping the smirk off the blond brawler's face.

"Right," Yang said slouching her shoulders.

"Even if we ask her she probably won't tell us." Pyrrha said then yawned. "We'll just have to wait until she is ready to tell us whatever she is hiding."

Ruby nodded looking out the window to the night sky. "Let's get some sleep." The scythe wielder said with a yawn. With that her team left JNPR's dorm room for their own for sleep.

OoOoOoOoOoOo

"Before we begin with practice fights today there is something we have not covered about combat." Glynda said standing in the middle of the practice ring in the classroom which was below the seats all of us were in. "Conduit auras." She paused to do something with her scroll before a holographic screen materialized with a paused image of the dragon I had killed during Initiation. There was a few seconds pause then the image moved, showing me and my team fighting the dragon. This looked like it was a mobile drone that had captured footage rather than a stationary camera as the perspective changed. It changed to focus the camera on me, at the center of the screen, and my team with the backside of the dragon's armored head at the bottom. The video paused at a moment when my body was covered with electricity and a shard of ice had just launched from my hand. "As you probably know Conduits fight very differently from normal Huntsmen. They are able to harness the same energy responsible for creating or destroying planets to do nearly anything."

For this class I was dressed in my "combat gear" which was little more than casual cloths and the holsters for my weapons over them. I had on black tennis shoes, black cargo pants, and a gray long sleeve shirt. Attached to my belt and thighs were the two holsters for my bladed revolvers. The small of my back held my sniper rifle assault rife that was more or less compacted into a solid gray rectangle, similar to how Ruby carried Crescent Rose. On my back rested the sheath for the battle staff that Rick had made for me along with the other weapons. He had surprised me by making the two halves of the staff able to become sturdy swords capable of withstanding large amounts of power funneled into them. On my belt rested pouches full of ammunition for my weapons.

"Is there any known limit to what a Conduit can do?" One student asked from the far side of the room from where I sat with my team.

"No." Glynda answered as the video played again. The ice shard broke upon the dragon's plated armor though an incendiary bullet impacted just under one of the plates making the dragon draw its head back in annoyance. The video spanned back to show the full dragon from the perspective my team had at the time, and paused again. "Legends says that Conduits were able to create life like the dragon here and other creatures. However there is no evidence to support it."

"If they were that powerful how come there aren't many around now?" Yang asked getting a sigh from Goodwitch.

"I don't know why their ancient empire was destroyed, though Conduits today are hunted for their power. Or they are hunted as very dangerous enemies of the kingdoms." The professor replied. "Conduits have an aura but it doesn't function in the same way the aura of everyone else does. For them it doesn't protect against all injuries, since in this video Erran has numerous scrapes and cuts as well as the others of her team."

"Why would the two normal people have injuries?" Weiss asked looking over to my team.

"Isabel and I already had our auras drained from combat against a pack of Shadestalkers. Then we had to fight a dragon on top of that." Nolan explained.

"The aura of a Conduit protects them from major damage and permanently enhances their physical ability. For instance there are reports and videos captured of Conduits having buildings collapse on them and survive it. It is suspected that their auras can get stronger over time or by some form of training, and that with a stronger aura they can survive inhuman amounts of damage."

"Are they even Human or Faunus?" One student asked as eyes turned to me, the only Conduit in the room.

"Hard to say." I shrugged. I wasn't sure of the answer to that question. I am a Wolf Faunus and a Conduit at the same time. What one mattered more? Wolf Faunus or Conduit? "It is true that the aura of a Conduit doesn't do much overall damage protection since that dragon gave me lots of nasty wounds. But what our aura does is greatly increase durability on top of enhancing our physical abilities. That said it is separate from the power we use to fight with." I explained then Glynda nodded and the holographic screen vanished.

"What about Grimmbloods?" A girl with bunny ears asked. I looked her over recognizing the female Faunus as Velvet. "I've seen them fight like Conduits."

"Care to answer that Ms. ConCain?" Glynda said. Of course she'd have the only Grimmblood of the class answer that question.

"Sure." Raysel lazily replied. "Grimmbloods, or Grimmshifters, have genetic similarities to Conduits so we can use the same powers they have access to."

"Now that we have covered that it is time for practice fights." Glynda said tapping more buttons on her scroll.

"About time." Nolan commented focusing his attention on the practice arena belo, and so did we.

"The first two participants are Cardin Winchester and Jaune Arc." Glynda said then the two males made their way into the arena. "Begin!" Glynda announced from the sidelines of the practice arena. I had a feeling this was going to go badly for the blond knight. Cardin looked smug probably because he knew he could beat Jaune into submission. The blond on the other hand was in a loose stance that would leave him open to bashing from the mace that Cardin wielded. Without hesitating much Cardin rushed forward swinging his mace down vertically. Jaune blocked part of the blow with his shield making him take a few steps back as the mace slammed into the floor. I heard the stone of the arena floor crack clearly from the force. Several more times Jaune stumbled out of the way of Cardin's attacks while taking some damage to his aura. He never succeeded in landing a single blow on Cardin before he had been knocked down and out of the ring, in roughly one minute. Glynda sighed clearly disappointed. "It has been a month Mr. Arc and you are still behind your peers."

"That was pretty sad." Raysel said with a yawn. She was sitting next to me on my left while the rest of my team was on the other side. "He needs extra training or he's just gonna get beat down every time he steps into that arena."

"Agreed." Grendel chimed in from behind me. His ability to speak had greatly improved over the last month as well, so he didn't quite sound like someone speaking English for the first time. Though he still had a ways to go when it came to things like metaphors.

Jaune could get training from Pyrrha in how to fight in arenas and the like. However I think he needs to learn much more variable fighting, which I could provide. That would also be a good excuse to experiment some more with my powers to see what I can do from afar.

"That was a good try Jaune." I heard Pyrrha say from several rows of seats away, though from the blond knight's sigh I don't think he thought it was much of a complement.

"Eve." Glynda called from the practice arena. I stood up from my seat then walked up to the railing. I jumped over it onto the arena floor and moved to the center ring near where Goodwitch was standing. As usual she was holding her scroll jotting down things in there, notes on our practice fights most likely. "You will face off against Cardin Winchester." I couldn't help but grin. I couldn't have asked for any better, except for maybe facing off against Pyrrha.

Cardin walked back into the ring still looking smug though that was going to change shortly. "Those weapons won't help you dog." Cardin commented with venom once he was near the center.

Oh I was going to enjoy humiliating him in front of the class and his own team. I shrugged. "I like variety with weapons."

Cardin got into a two handed stance with his mace ready to swing it at my side. Meanwhile I got out my battle staff with one hand spinning it around before stopping it along my back. "Eve." Glynda said so I glanced at her. "Don't destroy the ring this time, or you will be fixing it." She growled almost glaring at me.

"I'll try not to, but no guarantees." I replied focusing my attention back on Cardin.

Glynda grunted then looked between the two of us. "Begin!" She called stepping back. Cardin rushed forward though to me he looked to be moving in slow motion. I stood there moving the battle staff to block Cardin's swing. The metal of my weapon wrung a little though I didn't exactly feel much from the side blow. Man, Grendel could hit harder than that. I just stared at him as Cardin realized his one attack didn't work, so I pushed his weapon back and hit him in the back with one end of the staff. Out of the corner of my eye his aura took a small hit shifting it down a little. Movement brought my attention back to Cardin whom was going for a vertical slam. I sidestepped the attack with ease letting it go by closely by me to hammer into the floor.

Once the mace hit the floor it exploded giving me a light burn on my left arm and leg. Cardin himself was smirking having caused me some damage, but that didn't really hurt much. He flicked his arm towards me but I used a burst of speed to get behind the oaf in a flash. He turned with the swing sporting an angry expression, more than likely pissed off that he was not hitting me. Cardin charged me once again swinging the mace around wildly. That didn't help him, but it did for me. I separated my battle staff into its halves and scored blow after blow onto Cardin steadily dropping his aura into the red. By this time he was beaten and tired and I could still go for a long ways. He swung the mace at me again where I flung it out of his hands with my weapons then put them onto my back.

I caught his weapon as it came down. It was heavier than I thought with a cage type design at the end of it capped with a reddish orb. As I had felt earlier the weapon was able to cause localized explosions. Or maybe that was Cardin's semblence? Nonetheless I spun the mace a few times in my right hand. The look on his face was priceless. Caught somewhere in between fear and awe, probably closer to fear. I tossed the weapon into the air baiting Cardin. The fool rushed forward to try and reclaim his weapon, but I grabbed it with my left hand spinning around to swing it upwards. The mace harshly smashed into Cardin's chest plate sending him flying into the side of the practice arena hard enough to crack it at the point of impact.

"Not a bad weapon, though you don't use it well Cardin." I commented tossing the mace over to the unconscious teen.

"Well done, Eve." Glynda said approaching the center of the room. "Professor Ozpin wishes to speak with you." I nodded before teleporting to my seat.

"He deserved wors-"

"That was AWESOME!" Erik hollered interrupting his mother.

I smirked. "Thanks, and you're getting into trouble again boys." I said making Erik rub the back of his head sheepishly. I looked to Grendel whom held Adam by his shirt collar in front of him above the floor. "Let go of him Grendel." With that the Beowolf set Adam down onto his feet. "We've got to go talk to Ozpin, take notes for me and that."

"Will do." Raysel and Nolan replied at the same time. I tapped Grendel on the shoulder then left the room. Once out in the hallway I teleorted us to the tower that Ozpin's office resided in. As it turned out I managed to get us into his office directly. Ozpin sat behind his desk though there was another in the room I had never seen before.

"Who the hell are you?" I growled sensing the same power that Raysel radiated. The man looked to be about the same age as Ozpin, maybe a little older with short gray hair and stubble beginning to show on a rough chin. One eye was a human looking green while the other was solid crimson, in the same manner as a Grimm's eyes.

"So you're the Conduit Ozzy has attending his school." The man said with a deep voice that seemed to resonate a little. He was dressed in largely casual cloth in the color of gray; a short sleeve shirt, pants, and combat boots. He didn't have any visible weapons on him, though I got the feeling he didn't really need one. Around the man's neck rested a ruby pendant in the form of a sword.

"Relax Eve." Ozpin said sternly. He seemed to trust this guy, so I guess I might as well trust Ozpin's judgment for now. I relaxed moving my hands away from the weapons currently strapped to my back with Grendel mirroring me a little. I could tell with a glance that he didn't trust the man near Ozpin. "This man is Cameron Drake, one of my old friends."

I sniffed the air a few times trying to get his scent. It didn't really ring human, but that was there faintly. Something else was the main scent. I could smell darkness from him and power which reminded me of Raysel a lot. "You're a Grimmblood aren't you?"

"You used you nose to figure that out?" Cameron mused. "I guess Wolves have the best sense of smell among Faunus."

"We also have very good hearing." I added getting a nod from Cameron.

"I'll take my leave." Cameron said walking to the elevator, taking it down. I watched the doors until I couldn't hear the elevator anymore and turned around to face Ozpin once again.

"I think it is time to tell them, don't you?" Ozpin said making me tilt my head in confusion. "The facade you have is cracking. They know you are hiding something from them."

"As I told you before I don't do well on tests no matter how much I prepare for them. Besides they don't know what I am hiding. And do you believe that they will take me seriously if I told them I wasn't even born on Remnant?"

"They will try to figure out on their own what you are hiding from them, if they aren't already." Ozpin countered looking me in the eyes over the knuckles of his hands.

Could I trust them with that? I know that Raysel wouldn't laugh at me for that crazy fact but the others? They just might laugh at that or be fine with it, I don't know.

Ozpin sighed taking a deep breath. "Let me word it this way." He paused closing his eyes briefly. "Do you trust your team with your life?"

"Yes, but-"

"Then shouldn't you trust them not to think you are mad?" He cut me off. I bit my lip then sighed. Ozpin had a valid point. If I trusted them with my life why couldn't I trust them with this bit of information?

Grendel nudged my head with his snout, a sign of comfort and or concern from him. I closed my eyes reaching up to pet his mask. "You're right." I said opening my eyes again to see a small smile on the headmaster's face. "I'll tell them soon, but there is something I'd like to bring to your attention."

Ozpin arced an eyebrow. "Go on."

"Jaune Arc managed to get forged transcripts to get into here."

"I know." Ozpin replied. "I made them."

"What about blond knight extra training?" Grendel asked making Ozpin silent as he thought. Once again I saw that light in his eyes dance.

"I was thinking of training Jaune after school out in the Emerald Forest where I normally do training to improve his combat abilities." I explained.

"Why the Emerald Forest?"

"What student in their right mind would go out there in the daytime, let alone night time?" I commented. "Besides where else could I go to train and not be observed by others?"

"I see." Ozpin said standing up to look out the window behind his desk. "I will leave Mr. Arc's training in your hands Eve."

"Does Isabel have any family besides her boys?" I asked. I tried asking her myself but she would politely avoid answering the question every time.

"Unfortunately no." Ozpin answered. I walked up to his right to look out onto the city of Vale. The view was quite breath taking even in the day. "They were all killed in a White Fang attack and the father of her two boys abandoned them."

Man that was rough, and ironic. The White Fang were supposed to be a voice for the Fanuns yet they turned into a group of bloodthirsty revolutionaries. Had they stooped so low as to kill their own kind to make a point? "Who gets her boys if she dies?"

"You think ahead Eve." Ozpin noted.

"Most of the time." I shrugged. "But honestly I know how dangerous our line of work is, and that death is very likely."

"If Isabel Stelsa dies one of her team mates will have custody of them, which is up to you."

"Sounds reasonable." I said looking out the window at the clear sky that was dotted with a few sky ships. "I'll talk to you later Ozzy." I added then walked over to Grendel. I gripped his collar before teleported us to Beacon's grounds, next to the knight statue. In the light of the setting sun the mounted knight statue looked impressive, like a shining symbol of stability.

I watched Grendel's head tilt one way then the other as he studied the statue. "What is human on?"

I couldn't help a smile as Grendel's head turned to me for an answer. "The creature the knight is on is called a horse. It allows for fast transportation and can be used for manual labor if need be." I explained. A deep hum echoed from him while mulling over the information. After a minute or so he looked at me and nodded. "Meet me in the Emerald Forest, I'm going to get Jaune for training."

"Okay." Grendel said charging off in the direction of the Emerald Forest, our training grounds. I headed for the student dorms in search of my target. I had an idea where the dorms for Jaune and Ruby's teams were but I didn't know exactly where. However I could track them all by scent, so I just followed that. Blake's scent was the one that stood out the most from the others with her being a cat Faunus. Ruby on the other hand always smelled like roses for some reason. I followed those two scents to the third floor of the student dorms where I could hear yelling from one of the rooms on the left side.

"You can't force answers out of Eve!" I heard Ruby say tentatively causing me to stop in my tracks. I quietly moved to lean my back against the wall and focused on what I could hear.

"I want to know what she is hiding from us too Yang, but remember what happened last time you two brawled?" This time it was Blake that spoke. I smirked at the memory. That was the only time Glynda made the mistake of having Yang fight me in a practice match which ended up destroying the classroom from Yang's semblence. I won in the end by encasing her in ice for three minutes.

"I...remember." Yang answered slowly. I got off the wall and went over to the door across from RWBY's dorm. I could clearly smell Pyrrha's perfume coming from behind it, as well as...pancakes? Putting that aside I knocked on the dorm room door.

"Hang on." Pyrrha commented before the door opened to reveal her wearing a gray tank top and blue jeans. "Eve?" Clearly the tournament champion was surprised by my visit as she stared at me for almost a minute. "Come in." she finally said moving out of the way to let me in. On one bed sat Nora with a giant plate piled high with pancakes.

"Don't you ever get tired of pancakes?" I asked shaking my head a little.

"They're too awesome to get tired of them!" Nora replied enthusiastically before going back to devouring the pile.

"What brings you here Eve?" Ren asked as he walked out of the bathroom dressed in his usual cloths.

"I'm going to barrow Jaune for a bit." I said putting a hand on said blond's shoulder then teleporting to the Emerald Forest before they could say something. Jaune instantly fell to the forest floor with a thud.

"What was that for?" Jaune complained getting up and stretching his limbs out.

"Got locker." Grendel said making me look to my right to see him with a equipment locker under one arm.

"Did you carry that out to here?" I asked getting a nod from the Beowolf Alpha. My god, he can be a handful.

"Where are we?" Jaune asked nervously looking around.

"Emerald Forest." Grendel answered for me.

"What?!" Jaune yelled clearly shocked. I sat down on a fallen over tree trunk. "Why are we in the Emerald Forest?"

"Training." I supplied.

"Training-"

"I know your secret Jaune Arc." I interrupted looking him dead in the eyes. The blond knight took a step back, eyes wide. "You somehow got your hands on forged transcripts to get into Beacon."

"Are...you...blackmailing me?"

My ears flattened as I hung my head. "No." I replied bring my head back up before waving a hand in front of me. In front of me two things formed out of icy blue glowing energy, vaguely resembling Beowolves. "I don't care about that, but I will provide you with training you can't get anywhere else." With that Grendel firmly set the locker down on the grassy earth vertically.

"Get weapon, fight those." Grendel said making Jaune sigh. The blond went up to the equipment locker and retrieved his gear then faced me.

"They look like Beowolves." Jaune noted as Grendel closed the locker and moved it next to one of the large trees around the clearing. This more or less functioned as a gathering spot for training with my team. It was somewhat far out in the forest which hid our night time training well, and supplied us with a number of Grimm for live combat practice.

"Sort of." I shrugged. Not bad for a first attempt. "As I said I am going to be training you, but I am also going to be getting training too."

"What do you mean? How are you going to be getting training if you are training me?"

"Good question." I replied. _Finish the explanation Grendel._

Grendel nodded his head at me then walked over to the two Beowolf like constructs of blue energy. "She will control them from there." He said putting a massive paw on each head that was about shoulder height for him. "You are to fight these...fakes? Dummies?"

"Dummies works." I commented.

"She will get stronger at range combat and you get stronger overall." Grendel finished looking to me for approval. I smiled with a nod letting him he did a good job.

"I don't think I get it." Jaune said putting a hand on his chin. "I have to fight the two dummies you conjured up and you somehow are going to control them?"

Holy crap...this guy can be slow to understand. I guess that's to be expected when you aren't exactly trained to be a Huntsmen like Yang or Ruby was then attend a school for them. "We will go in stages to improve your combat ability, but keep this in mind." I said holding up a hand before extending my index finger. "One, I cannot teach you much on standard combat forms that can be found in class or in tournaments. Pyrrha would be a good one to learn from on that note." I extended the next finger. "Two, I'll train you every night and I won't go easy. Meaning that I will harm you but not enough to kill you." I held up a third finger at the same time Jaune paled. "Lastly these dummies will not be the only thing I use against you in our training, understood?"

Jaune stood there for a full two minutes before swallowing. He calmed down a little to where he didn't look white as a sheet. "I...understand." He answered.

"Good." I commented seeing Grendel come to me and sit down cross legged. I got off the tree trunk and put my weapons on the ground before sitting in his lap. I snapped my fingers and the two dummies came to life shifting their heads to look at me. "I want you to fight these two. They are quite frail so it shouldn't be too hard for you to destroy them."

"Okay." Jaune said then got into a stance where his shield was in front and his sword arm was hanging low. As he prepared to fight the dummies I focused my mind on them, sensing the bodies. After maybe a minute I could feel the two dummies as if they were a part of my body. Experimentally I tried flexing a hand, and to my surprise one of the dummies flexed a hand slowly. Again I focused my mind on the dummies this time feeling two bodies at once. It was almost like learning to move your fingers on their own without the others joining in. I moved an arm in my mind and the closest of the two dummies swiped at Jaune.

It responded to a thought command? Jaune's shield blocked the blow earning a grunt from him. He then shakily reached forward and slashed at the dummy that had swiped him. In my mind I pictured myself moving out of the blow in the form of a Beowolf and two things happened. One, the dummy moved out of the way at far faster speed than I anticipated. And two, the form of it changed to more closely match Grendel. I looked over at Jaune who was stunned. At that moment I had the other dummy, which had also changed to match the other one, attack Jaune. I guided its body around in just the same way as the other one. The second dummy missed Jaune's arm by a few inches. Damn. This wasn't easy at all! Putting that thought aside I resumed control and movement of the two dummies at once. Jaune backed up after I missed his arm. I positioned both dummies so they could pounce on him at ounce when I suddenly hit my head on Grendel's chest.

I growled feeling a little sting in my head. I looked to see both dummies I had conjured up ripped in half and Raysel standing before Jaune. I closed my eyes letting forth a growl. "Raysel..." I said quietly through gritted teeth.

"What are these and-" She stopped as I opened my eyes to look at her. "Eve? What is he doing here?" She added point to Jaune.

"What the hell?" I let out as she slumped her shoulders. Nolan and Isabel walked into view at that moment. "I was using those to train him!" I said pointing to the blue Beowolf halves on the ground.

Raysel put her hands up in surrender. "Sorry, I jumped to conclusions." I let out a sigh. It was a minor mistake on her part. "That aside I had no idea you could do that."

I rubbed my temples as the sting of pain eased away. "I just tried it earlier. And you should remember what Glynda mentioned earlier, that Conduits don't have known limits."

"Right." Raysel said then clapped her hands together and two forms materialized. They looked nearly identical to the dummies I had created, but glowed a soft purple instead of blue. "So you made something like these?"

I nodded. "I made them to try out a form of ranged combat while training Jaune at the same time."

"I see." Nolan said taking a drink from the canteen he carried at his waist. "We'll be over by the gorge then to give you two some room."

"Thanks." I said before he moved with Isabel out of sight to the east of us. Over that way we had found a gorge that was deep and dark. It allowed us to start training in caves where it was almost completely dark and full of Grimm. Raysel on the other hand stayed where she was. "You joining them?"

"Nah." Raysel commented gaining a purple glow in her eyes. "I'm going to help you train Jaune."

I smirked. "Okay. Jaune now you'll need to fight four dummies that are frail. I am controlling the blue glowing Beowolf dummies and Raysel is controlling the purple glowing ones."

Jaune gulped. "Alright." He said getting ready then looked around. "You do know I can't see in the dark like you right?"

Right...he's only human. "Just let us know when you can't see anything besides the Beowolf dummies." Jaune nodded then I recreated my two dummies feeling that it was already easier. Once again I took control of the two and moved them around to make sure I could move them how I wanted to. "Here we go." With that Raysel and I attacked Jaune via the dummies. After several hours the two of us were a tired and Jaune himself was unconscious and covered in bruises.

"He's got a long way to go." Raysel commented holding her hands over his chest which glowed a light blue. Over time his bruises were vanishing as she healed him.

"That may be true, but we got him started at least." I said placing my hands on his legs to channel power into them. I could feel the muscles in his legs slowly relax and take it in, healing the injuries Raysel and I caused there. I let out a yawn a few minutes later seeing Raysel move her hands away from Jaune's chest.

"Injuries gone?" Grendel asked looking over Jaune as the man slept.

"We healed the majority of them." Raysel replied taking a few deep breaths. "Controlling those dummies is more tiring than I thought."

"Agreed." I added then went over and draped Jaune over my shoulder with ease. "I'm going to drop him off at his dorm." I said grinning. I could have fun with this situation.

"What are you grinning about?" Raysel asked raising an eyebrow.

"I'll tell you at the house later." I said then teleported to the dorms. I easily carried the unconscious blond knight on my back around the dorms. As it turned out there was no one outside of their rooms at night. I got to his dorm room quickly and knocked on the door.

"What happened to Jaune?" Pyrrha said her voice ringing with obvious concern. She let me into the room where the other members were in pajamas and Pyrrha herself was in a pair of shorts and a t-shirt. I set Jaune down onto one of the unoccupied beds slowly so I didn't agitate any bruises Raysel and I didn't heal.

This opportunity was too good to pass up. "We had some fun in the Emerald Forest."

Pyrrha's green eyes locked with mine as they went wide. At the same time her eyes went wide a bright red hue decorated her cheeks and I heard Ren cough on something. I looked to him to see a cup of water in a hand. I could see that Pyrrha was speechless and stunned so I teleported out of the room before she could recompose herself.

* * *

I forgot to mention that I am trying to figure out what stories to post next (only to a maximum of four, since I don't write short stories). I've got tons of fanfictions on my computer and I'm not sure what one I want up here. What would you guys/gals like to see? halo, Overlord (awesome anime), Gate (another one), Warcraft/WoW, nartuto/fairy tail crossover, ROsario + Vampire (another try at it where Akasha Bloodriver is the love interest of the main OC)? leave a review with your thoughts on this and the question at the top of the chapter.


	4. Secrets and Relaxation

It was a long time coming but here is the fourth chapter for Conduit! First off you I felt the need to change the main character's name to "Eve" rather than "Erran" which it is in the previous chapters. Erran was a cool idea to me at first but now I want to go with Eve which I feel works better, and I do not plan to change her name again for this story. I will go back and edit that on the previous chapters when I get the chance. On another note I can't wait for the next volume to start, the fourth one ended on an interesting I include Raven somewhere in this story? If you have thoughts on that leave a review about it. Now onto the story...

* * *

Once at the house I plopped onto the couch and laughed. I had a quiet laugh that barely made noise, but someone with hearing like mine could hear it. I heard Raysel's bare feet on the tile floor of the kitchen followed by the others, though I suspected they had socks on. Honestly that tile floor was bloody cold half the time for bare feet.

"What are you laughing about?" Nolan asked leaning against the border of the kitchen and living room.

I turned to face them before explaining. "When I dropped off Jaune at his dorm room Pyrrha asked what happened to him since the blond was unconscious. I suggested that we had sex in the Emerald Forest." Everyone let out a short laugh except for the two boys, whom probably didn't understand the joke.

"How did she react?" Raysel asked clearly interested as she sat down on the couch next to me.

"It was priceless." I grinned. "She was stunned speechless and had a huge blush on her face."

"Are you going to tell her you didn't actually have sex with Jaune tomorrow?"

I shook my head. "I'm going to wait a few days and tell her Saturday. And I'll tell you all something I've been keeping from you that I shouldn't have."

"Alright but where are we all gonna fit?" Nolan said as he let out a yawn. His green hair was a bit damp and I could smell the water on him, so he had gotten out of the shower recently.

"I was thinking of having them here." I said letting my head fall back onto the top of the couch back. "We've got plenty of room for eight people to be here, and it gets us away from prying ears."

"Cardin Winchester." They all said at the same time. Great. I might have to teach him a lesson outside of the classroom.

"Make sure to keep an eye on him." I said then lifted my head up to look at Erik and Adam. "You boys make sure to avoid him alright?"

"Okay, but why?" Erik answered. Yet again another example of why they were a lovable handful. He and his brother were far smarter than their peers and had questioning minds. I had a feeling that made their day care supervisors uneasy, but it was something I liked to see and Isabel agreed with me on that.

"Cardin is someone who tries to control those who are weaker than him in order to make himself feel better, a bully in other words. I would not be surprised if he tries to use the two of you to make Isabel do something for him." I explained and slowly both boys nodded. I got out my Scroll and checked the time. It read _11:53pm_. "I'm going to bed." I said heading for my bedroom, for some sleep.

OoOoOoOoOoOo

The Headmaster of Beacon Academy sat in his office at night looking over the short video feed of his most interesting student. Interesting was one way to describe the Conduit Eve. A small smirk appeared on his lips as Cardin's own weapon was used against him to knock the trouble student unconscious. For once Eve had mostly stayed within the rules and hadn't altered the room in any way to suit her in combat. There was no official rule against using your opponent's weapon against them in sparring matches, but no one thought to do that except for the only Wolf Faunus at Beacon. The ding of the elevator brought his attention away from the screen in front of him. Out of the elevator came Glynda Goodwitch, who did not look amused.

"Something you wish to talk about?" Ozpin asked watching Glynda sigh and notice the screen furrowing her brows.

"I thought having Eve spar against Cardin Winchester would be...somewhat balanced." How wrong she had been. The Conduit didn't even touch her powers and completely left him in the dust, using only one of her three weapon choices. She should have know better. Not only her but Ozpin had trained Eve for two months before the start of the term. Then there was the fact Eve rarely stayed to the rules for fighting. Glynda had noticed that if the situation wasn't to the Conduit's favor she'd change the entire game so that it was in _her_ favor. "However I'm not quite sure how to handle her punishment for knocking Cardin Winchester unconscious."

"There is no need to punish Eve." Ozpin said causing Glynda to gawk at him. How could he take the Conduit's side so easily? Isn't knocking out a fellow student too much during a sparring match? "As I see it Cardin Winchester needed to be reminded that there is someone better than him at combat, and that it can be a Faunus." Ozpin explained as Glynda regained composure.

"There are only a handful of students who can fight against her, given that we trained the Conduit." Glynda commented pulling up a list on her scroll, then sending it to Ozpin's holographic screen. "Yang Xaio Long is one student who can fight against Eve, but as we discovered their clashing powers can't be contained by a barrier." She said sighing. That had been a royal mess for her to clean up, and a month later the room was still destroyed and unusable. As it turned out Eve could easily provide the punishment needed for Yang's Sembelence and win after it was activated. "Raysel ConCain and her brothers may be able to fight on par with Eve as well as-"

"Pyrrha Nikos." Ozpin finished for the Huntress. "She is most suited to spar against her along with Raysel ConCain, though I would not want the latter fighting her inside the school."

"Where does Eve and her team go to do extra training every night?"

Ozpin was quiet as he took another drink of coffee. "I'm not sure." He lied calmly not shifting under Glynda's watchful gaze. "Have Ms. Nikos spar with Eve next time. I am curios to see how that will go." Glynda nodded then left the headmaster's office.

OoOoOoOoOoOo

"Are you okay Jaune?" Yang asked seeing the blond knight with his head on the table, and untouched food in front of him. He looked completely drained of energy and it was only the morning. He wasn't the only one; Pyrrha Nikos looked like she was also deprived of sleep. That was definitely odd. Why would the tournament champion Pyrrha Nikos be deprived of sleep?

"No." Jaune groaned not even turning his head. "I'm exhausted."

A grin formed on Yang's lips. The opportunity to tease the other blond was too good to pass up. "Who was it?"

"Eve." The blond answered weakly.

"Wow." Yang commented. How had the blond knight gotten the attention of the single most dangerous student of the school? From what she had seen Yang suspected that Eve wasn't interested in him. She had seen the Wolf Faunus shoot down many males in the last week who had wanted to date her. "So, how fun is she?"

At that Pyrrha's face reddened making Yang grin. She had finally found something to tease the Mystral champion about.

"What is she doing with Jaune?" Pyrrha absently thought aloud slowly moving her eggs around on the plate with a fork.

"Taking him for a test drive maybe?" Yang offered as Pyrrha's hand smashed into the table suddenly.

"She is not!" Pyrrha burst out then promptly shut up with the questioning stares of the others. Why did she say that? Was she somehow jealous of the Wolf Faunus? She did like Jaune after all since he was the first person she had met that treated her like a person, rather than a celeberty. Though the same thing could be said about all of team ERIN.

"I don't think that's it." Weiss spoke taking the pressure off of Pyrrha. "Where do you have the most bruises Jaune?" Weiss couldn't believe she was doing this. Why did she care if he had any injures given his advances so far?

"Arms, Legs, everywhere." Jaune answered finally lifting his head from the table to take a drink of coffee. He looked a little more energized after taking the drink, but then he froze staring at something behind Ruby.

All eyes trailed to Grendel who stood some distance behind Ruby, before he slowly walked over to them. "House gathering tomorrow. Eve invites you." Silence followed as the gathered Huntsmen in training tried to figure out what the Grimm meant. Of course it didn't help that Grendel's ability of speaking wasn't anywhere near what they were used to.

"Explain that again please." Pyrrha said calmly as Grendel let out a sigh, his ears drooping down.

"Eve invites you to our house Saturday." Grendel said slowly to make sure they understood.

A collective "Oh" sounded from them.

"Nicely done." Raysel commented from the side making everyone jump. It was one of the few times he made a normal, complete, sentence around her. Though like the others of team ERIN she understood him easily enough to figure out what the Beowolf was talking about usually.

 _When did she get here?_ Jaune thought as panic dominated his face making said Grimmblood laugh.

"What Grendel means is that Eve wants you eight over tomorrow at our house." Raysel explained as she took a drink out of a metal travel mug.

"House?" Blake questioned. She knew that students to Beacon got dorm rooms that were share with their respective teams. So why had Raysel mentioned a house?

"Instead of a dorm room my team was given a house to live in that's on campus. It's a large place that was built with him in mind." Raysel explained pointing to the Beowolf sitting behind Ruby, though his head was still over her's.

"That makes sense." Ren said putting in his two cents for the conversation.

Raysel nodded moving away from the wall she had been leaning on. "Don't forget to show up tonight, blond knight. We're going to teach you something new."

Yang grinned seeing the mischievous shine in Raysel's eyes. "So Eve isn't the only one riding him?" A fork clanged onto the table as Pyrrha stared at Raysel with red cheeks too paralyzed to do anything.

Raysel nodded. "He's quite fun in the dark." She said adding fuel to the fire of embarrassment that decorated the Mystral champion's cheeks. Raysel then walked out with Grendel following her. Yang looked around to see a similar blush on Jaune's face and a confused expression on Ruby's face

Yang focused her attention on Jaune. The other blond uncomfortable as hell being the subject of the jokes spoken by Yang and Raysel.

Weiss checked the time on her scroll then stood up. "Time to go to combat class." With that they all gathered their food and left for Glynda Goodwitch's combat class eager to see who would fight the Conduit this time.

OoOoOoOoOo

I was mostly bored out of my mind as the sparring matches went on between the various students. I didn't really pay attention to them, that is until Nolan's name was called. It had been interesting to see him fight against Ren. The two of them had taken nearly ten minutes before Nolan's larger aura, greater stamina, and strength allowed him to win. The fight after that had been enlightening to say the least. Isabel got chosen to fight against Weiss Schnee of all people. The two of them were agile skill based fighters so the match was pretty much even, though Isabel had a slight advantage due to her Faunus heritage. In the end it came to a draw after three minutes with both of them panting and tired.

"Jaune Arc." Glynda called as the man tiredly walked into the ring. At his tired posture the teacher raised an eye brow as she studied him. "Who can you fight?" Glynda mused quietly though I could hear it.

"How about giving Grendel a shot in the ring?" I suggested earning her attention.

"Who?" Glynda said calmly. How the hell did she not remember what I named the Beowolf alpha?! I face palmed as the Beowolf in question let out a grunt.

"Me." Grendel said from his sitting position to my left in the isle, the only spot big enough for him to sit down.

"Right." Glynda sighed. "Very well, you may battle Mr. Arc." She added then Grendel teleported to the ring generating quite a few gasps from the others in the room.

"The Beowolf can teleport?!" Most of the class echoed as I flicked my ears down feeling a light sting at the noisy outburst.

Grendel stood to his near full height in a semi crouched position that would allow him to pounce upon Jaune. The blond knight didn't look thrilled to be battling against Grendel again, since I had him do that the night before. Regardless he steeled himself putting the shield in front of him and keeping his sword arm not far behind it on his right side. Grendel's frame sparked with electricity and I sighed.

"No powers Grendel." I said causing him to look at me. "You'll demolish Jaune that way." The Beowolf nodded with the electricity dissipating. "Professor Glynda..." I said with a pause getting a small glare from her since I typically didn't use her last name, and that drove her nuts. "Can you run an aura analysis on Grendel for me?"

"What?" She stammered, dumbstruck.

"You heard me." I said and watched her stand there. I guess I have to do it. I pulled out my scroll and initiated the room's aura analysis targeting Grendel with it and did Jaune as well. The results were sent to my scroll directly, then a copy was sent to Glynda's scroll for her to see. I grinned seeing an aura level for the Beowolf which normally wouldn't have one in the first place. It seemed that was one of the changes brought about by a Grimm Tamer taming a Grimm. At least to me it made sense because he could use my powers so why couldn't he have an aura, even if it was merely a pseudo copy of mine? Jaune's aura was large as the last few times I had seen it, though it appeared to have gotten a bit bigger.

"I...see." Glynda said slowly as I watched her look over her scroll. "Do you know the rules?" She asked looking at the Beowolf who turned to her then tilted his head.

"Refresh." He simply said getting a nod from Glynda. I'm sure it was a little odd for her to be talking with a Grimm. Pretty much everyone but me found it weird. Maybe it is because I tamed him?

"This is a sparring match so the fight will go until one of you reaches 15% aura remaining, assuming the aura you have functions like Mr. Arc's. If not then we will improvise. You are not to use your powers. Do you have a weapon to use?"

"Nope." I supplied. "It's still in prototype stage so Grendel will fight with his claws and hands."

"Get ready." Glynda said stepping back from the ring where the barrier came to life. This was going to be interesting on several levels. This was going to be Grendel's first sparring match here at Beacon rather than the ones we did out in the Emerald Forest. This was a test for both of them, Jaune and the Beowolf. The blond knight would actually be able to attack Grendel in this situation instead of our training sessions. So far I had him focus on defense to make use of the shield more so than he has been. I was also starting to get him used to the idea of dodging attacks.

His fight with a impaired Grendel should be a note worthy experience. If there are any holes or errors I'll hammer those into him tonight and in the future. For Grendel I knew this would be a challenge. He was used to using my powers, borrowing them, or whatever lets him do the things I can. In this case he wasn't allowed to use them, though size and mobility were definitely on his side.

"Begin!" Glynda called though it was unclear if either of them heard it behind the barrier.

 _Attack._ I commanded to Grendel who swiped at Jaune's side. The blond in question brought his shield up in time to block it. After the initial attack Grendel had taken a step back out of Jaune's reach. Jaune moved slowly in a circle with Grendel mirroring him. Jaune stepped forward and took a hesitant swing with his sword at Grendel's exposed chest. The Beowolf didn't move at all from the attack, instead looking at the Aura gauges. Jaune's blade left a small cut on his black flesh as the aura dropped ever so slightly on the gauge. _Stop for a minute._

A few seconds passed before the barrier came down and Glynda spoke. "Since Grendel's aura is close enough to yours Mr. Arc this sparring match will go until one of you reaches 15% aura left." Both of them nodded before the barrier came to life again. Once it had Jaune tried another slash but Grendel was paying attention this time. Jaune's arm was too far from his body as Grendel knocked the weapon away with his claws. Jaune moved with the blow and used the momentum to get out of the way of a vertical slash, only catching the tip of Grendel's claws on his back. Just as Jaune came back around Grendel tried to kick him in the side. Again Jaune moved the shield but he wasn't nearly fast enough.

The upper part of the shield took some of the blow, but the rest was taken by his arm throwing the human sideways. He bounced off the barrier and got back up onto his feet.

"This is amazing." Pyrrha commented. I glanced at her to see the red head watching the sparring match closely. I returned my gaze to see Jaune step out of another of Grendel's slow attacks. I watched him seeing the slowness of each attack and his dodges. It was clear to me, and my team, that he was deliberately holding himself back. Jaune made another cut on Grendel's black fur along one arm above the elbow as said arm missed his head for a punch. For several more minutes the two of them played cat and mouse. Jaune would be forced to dodge or block while Grendel chased him around the limited space they worked within. Looking around the room it was almost quiet enough to hear a pin drop. Everyone was focused on the sparring match between one of the weakest students in school and the tamed Grimm.

My own team members were curious as to how this would go it seemed, judging by their watchful eyes on the sparring ring. A tug at my shirt brought my attention to Adam who looked up at me expectantly. Adam and his brother Erik weren't supposed to be at any of our classes per school rules, but after repeatedly sneaking out and finding Isabel or the others of my team Ozpin had said to take the rascals with us. I don't doubt that decision went unappreciated by the day care staff whom had issues with Isabel's boys. I picked him up and placed him on my shoulders as I stood near the railing. This gave him a perfectly clear view of the sparring match.

Looking back to the ongoing match I saw Jaune take a stab at Grendel's leg as the upper part of the Grimm was over him. The blond in question had apparently ducked under Grendel's arms. The stab was weak as if he seemed to be afraid to injure his opponent any more than he already had. Grendel grabbed Jaune's sweatshirt with both hands and threw the blond over him like a sack of potatoes. I saw Jaune's aura level just before red while Grendel's was still strong in the green. I saw a flicker of anger on his face as the human pushed himself back onto his feet once again then it was gone. Grendel swiped at an upwards angle catching Jaune's shield and sending it flying out of the blond's hands to clatter on the floor past the Grimm.

 _What will you do without that shield Jaune?_ I thought seeing panic at first then replaced with something else: determination. Jaune leaned out of the way of a swipe and rolled to his shield narrowly getting out of the way of a punch that cracked the floor a little. It seemed like he was learning in this fight, if slowly. Jaune swung his sword in a horizontal arc once again over extending. As punishment for his mistake Grendel took a step back to avoid the attack and then shoulder charged Jaune. The buzzer sounded as Jaune's aura dipped heavily into the red with the blond hitting the barrier for the third time. Grendel caught Jaune before he hit the floor and picked him up.

"Jaune!" Pyrrha said as she jumped down onto the floor.

"Just let me sleep." Jaune muttered before doing just that in Grendel's arms. Pyrrha let a small smile grace her lips as she carried him to where her team sat across the isle from mine. Grendel teleported back up to us and sat himself down on the isle steps.

I reached over and scratched his ear. "You did good."

"Our next two sparring partners are..." Glynda paused to get our attention. "Pyrrha Nikos and Eve." The class erupted into wild chatter, eager to see how a match between Beacon's strongest first year females would turn out.

"Me against Eve?" Pyrrha muttered as her green eyes found mine. To be honest I was just as eager to see how the match would go as the rest of them, even though I was in it. At first her eyes seemed surprised, then they transitioned into confidence. She left her team and went to the ring as I put Adam down and headed for the ring.

"No destroying the ring or we're doomed." Nolan commented as I walked up to him.

"Where's the fun in that?" I grinned fist bumping him before going down the stairs that led to the floor. Once on the floor I popped my neck as I stepped into the ring with Pyrrha on the other side.

"Do you know anything about Jaune's sudden increase in fighting skill?" Pyrrha asked as she gout out Milo and the shield.

"Maybe." I replied getting out my battle staff. I should probably name it at some point, along with the other weapons of mine. Hell every one of the RWBY main cast had weapons with specific names.

Her green eyes narrowed for a few seconds. "Will you tell me if I beat you?"

"Deal." I said setting up to use the battle staff holding it with one hand behind me, lining it up with my arm. "If I win you'll owe me a meal."

"Deal." She said with a nod.

We were both at a disadvantage for different reasons. I was screwed because of Pyrrha's knowledge and experience with tons of huntsmen vs huntsmen battles. However she had no experience fighting Conduits or Grimmbloods as far as I knew. One thing we both had going for us was versatility in how we fought. Since Milo could take on three different forms allowing her to fight at short range, medium range, and long range. Then there was her shield which I doubt would only serve as defense. Of course I also had a mix of weapons that allowed me to fight at varying ranges on top of my powers as a Conduit that could be for any range.

"Ready?" Glynda said then I nodded to her, seeing Pyrrha do the same out of the corner of my eye. "Begin!" She called as the barrier came to life around Pyrrha and me. Pyrrha immediately had Milo form into a rifle to take a few shots at me since I was out of melee range. I dashed forward as three cracks echoed form the weapon. One of the three bullets grazed my neck but I ignored it in favor of bringing the battle staff to strike the Mystral champion. The tip of the battle staff narrowly missed Pyrrha's shield as it came down to the left. I spun the weapon in my hands before smashing one end into Pyrrha's shield seeing her shuffle back a bit from the force.

I side stepped a stab from her that was almost a blur, though sparing with Raysel enhancing her own speed had me prepared for fast combat. Although I dodged Milo Pyrrha's shield hit my arm above the elbow. Yep, she was using it was a weapon too. Pulling my weapon back I separated it tossing one half into the air much to her surprise and used the other one to strike the edge of the shield. The other half I caught with my left hand and tried to slash at her face, like before the arc of the weapon was adjusted to it missed. She tried for a side slash that I blocked with my left hand weapon before snap kicking her in the chest. She went flying into the barrier, at the moment I put the halves of the battle staff onto my back. While the Mystral champion bounced off the invisible wall I drew both of my revolvers and emptied the weapons quickly.

Out of the corner of my eye I saw her aura bar drop a significant level, though it stayed just outside of the yellow range. As quickly as I had drew both revolvers I holstered then and rushed in. It was time to step up the game. Once again I got out the two halves of the battle staff to use against Milo and her shield. While I closed in moving faster than before Pyrrha let out a series of shots that I narrowly avoided. With expert skill she parried slashes and strikes with either weapon or shield.

I bounced back and spun on a foot dodging a upwards slash. She charged me intending to bash me with her shield. I shoulder charged slamming into that dense buckler. Pyrrha rolled backwards with the blow quickly firing off a few more rounds at me. I deflected the bullets with my current weapon without taking my eyes off of the tournament champion. Once back on her feet we circled twice waiting for the other to attack. I twirled both ends of my weapon in each hand then she moved. Pyrrha raced forwards for a down strike. I jumped back out of it as her blow landed, breaking chunks out of the floor. Following up she threw her shield at me.

Expecting it I leaned out of the way letting it pass me. The shield bounced off the barrier coming for me again as I landed. I threw one half of the battle staff at Pyrrha forcing her to roll left to dodge the weapon. With that out of the way I smashed downwards onto her shield, stabbing the object into the floor brutally. A blackish glow briefly surrounded the shield for about ten seconds. The object didn't budge at all making the champion grunt.

I smirked sprinting at the redhead. With my left hand I slashed down cracking the floor as she grunted at the force. I pressured her leaning into it waiting to see what she'd do next. She shifted position to redirect the force I applied, making my weapon slide off of her's. As it slid from Milo's sword form I spun elbowing her in the ribs. She staggered to the side so I followed up with a punch to the face. It connected making her hit the barrier around us. Once again she rushed at me prepping for a side strike.

I lined up for another punch as she came close, but stopped and leg swept her at the last second. Pyrrha fell face first hard grunting at the impact. She was about to push herself up off of the ground at the same time a kick connected to her stomach. That sent her up into the air, ripe for punishment. I front flipped landing a kick onto her mid section catapulting Pyrrha into the floor of the arena with a thunderous crack. The floor cracked and gave way a bit under her body that hit back first.

Walking forwards I pointed the tip of the blade at the champion's throat. With a crackle the barrier around us came down. Her breathtaking emerald eyes held amazement in them. The clicking of heels brought my attention to Glynda off to my left. I glanced at her while she studied us noting something in her scroll.

"Winner is Eve." She announced causing the room to erupt into a loud chorus of different voices.

"Ugh." I grumbled flattening my ears from the volume. I was sweaty as hell, though I guess that's only natural when you wear a long sleeve shirt and pants in fights like these. Plus generate an incredible amount of body heat while in motion. then something else came to my attention. Pain seared my body as I began to feel all the little wounds Milo had made on me during our match. I rolled up my the sleeves of my shirt hissing as the cloth went over cuts on my arms.

"Are you okay?" Pyrrha asked as she let go of Milo.

"Yeah." I replied reaching up to rub my ears. That sometimes helped reduce the pain from rather loud noises such as pricing cries of a Nevermore or the ruckus of a noisy classroom.

"I guess I owe you a meal."

"Yep." I said getting out my revolvers and changing the ammo to make sure there was fresh bullets in them to use next time. "Did Grendel find you guys this morning?"

Pyrrha nodded. "He did though we had a hard time understanding him."

"Sorry bout that." It wasn't easy to teach him to speak in the first place, but having his mind somewhat linked with mine helps. Sadly I didn't have as much luck teaching Grendel how to read. It was hard to tell if he understood the concept or not. He hadn't let me know really one way or another if he could read or if it was a lost cause to try and teach him to. I suppose I could try to search his mind for the answer. However that would be rude since I had a friendly relationship with the tamed Beowolf, and invading minds is something I don't plan on doing to my friends. "I'm trying as much as I can to teach him language, though with him being a Grimm it's difficult at times. What he meant is that I invite your team and RWBY over to my house on campus tomorrow. Also how did I do?"

"I've never fought a Conduit before so that was a new experience. You did wonderfully, Eve." Pyrrha said moving to find her shield while Glynda tried to get some measure of control over the hyped students. "You are the greatest challenger I have ever faced before. Who taught you to fight?"

I grinned. "Ozpin and Goodwitch." I supplied. "Mostly Ozpin, but Goddwitch does participate from time to time. Ozpin always beats me if I don't use my powers, even if I do he usually kicks my ass."

"I see." Pyrrha commented with a smile on her face. "What time should we show up at your house tomorrow?"

"Around 11:00am." I supplied getting up while the cuts protested the movement. The champion found her shield though the human couldn't move it. "I might be able to get it out of the floor."

"I wouldn't mind the help." Pyrrha commented stepping back. It seemed she had barely moved it. Luckily for me I had a grip as the two sides of the shield had holes for her to shoot through if she wanted. I gripped the shield using those then began to pull. It was stuck in the floor good as I put more effort into pulling it out. Focusing a little power into my arms the shield came free with a grunt.

"Thanks." Pyrrha said accepting the shield from me, while having her hands linger on mine a little longer than normal before she went back to her seat.

"Well done Eve." Isabel praised holding a napping Erik in her arms.

"You're among the few who can stand toe to toe with her." Raysel said putting a hand on my shoulder. "And you actually beat her without using your Conduit powers." She was smiling then removed her hand so I could get past and sit on the chairs.

"Good work." Grendel commented as I turned to lay down on the seats for some sleep, rules be damned.

"Thanks." I muttered reaching for my scroll. I got it out and messaged Jaune saying that I was going have him do something different than what we've been doing in our training sessions. And to direct both his team and RWBY to my house tomorrow morning. The rest of the day went by quickly with not much going on. Unlike the last few times I went ahead to the training ground and had Grendel bring Jaune. This particular night was going to be warm so I took off the long sleeve shirt and my shoes feeling the grass under my feet. I stretched my arms over my head before laying on the ground. The sounds of nature were clear and perfect around me from a few birds chirping to some insects buzzing around or clicking. For a few minutes I laid there with my eyes closed listening to nature until it became silent at once.

"Here." Grendel said prompting me to open my eyes and sit up. Jaune met my eyes briefly before a red hue decorated his cheeks, then he turned his head to the left.

Was he seriously embarrassed about that? "Why are you looking away Jaune?" I said getting onto my feet.

"You don't have your shirt on."

I sighed making sure it was tied around my waist. "It's going to be warm tonight so I'll have it off, otherwise I'm likely to attempt to bake myself. That aside I'm not going to remove more clothing so get used to it. Plus you have seven sisters dude, you've seen females with a bra on but no shirt." I explained as he sighed and turned to face me.

"How do you know that? I've never told you about my family or the others."

"I'll explain that tomorrow along with something else." I said getting a nod form him. "First things first I am not putting the shirt back on so we will spar like this. Keep in mind Jaune that some women will be wearing little in terms of clothing and you may have to fight them. I am going to have you work on offense tonight a bit since I've had you work on defense so much."

"Okay." Jaune replied getting out his sword and shield. "What am I attacking?" I saw something in his eyes as he said that, A soft glow of sorts. Though I could hear what was in it clearly: budding confidence.

"Me." I replied getting a slow nod from him. "I watched your fight against Grendel closely and I noticed a few things. First what were you thinking as you fought the Beowolf?"

Jaune let his arms hang as he looked at the ground in thought. There was a pause before he answered. "Honestly I was scared of fighting him."

"Good." I commented making him look at me with a raised eyebrow. "Feeling fear is a good thing, because no one is fearless Jaune."

"I think you are Eve." He said gesturing to me. "I've never seen you back down from a fight."

I suppose he was right to a degree. I have yet to back down from a fight, even if I should have done so. I smirked. "That's partly true. I don't back down from fights for the most part. However this is important so pay attention." I paused to make sure I had his full attention. "Everyone feels fear at some point, Huntsmen are no exception. They fear various things from watching their team mates die to a Beowolf pack, being killed by a Nevermore, or having their equipment fail. During my fight with the dragon I feared that it would kill me and my team."

"Seriously?"

I nodded.

"How did you fight it then if it scared you so much?"

"I didn't let my fear control me. I used it to give me the fuel I needed to fight it and eventually behead the dragon along with anger. Now back to your thoughts as you fought Grendel."

Jaune put away his sword and shield to stretch his arms over his head. "Before you decided to train me I asked Pyrrha for some advice on fighting and she told me to keep my emotions in check and to analyze my opponent for any openings."

That made sense and that was his problem. Pyrrha has the mind for that style of fighting not to mention experience with many Huntsmen vs Huntsmen battles. Jaune though didn't quite have the mind for it, nor did he have the experience. "I see and I think that's a problem for you."

"What do you mean?"

"Honestly Jaune you don't have the mind for what Pyrrha suggested to you. It forces you to waste time over thinking your attacks trying to look for an opening. And when there is an opening you see the attack going for it reaches too far leaving you open for attacks from your opponent." I explained seeing a shocked expression on his face before it was replaced with a defeated look. I put a hand on his shoulder and shook it. He gave me a hopeful expression. "I have a suggestion for you. Don't try to analyze your enemy the way Pyrrha talked about, just attack and go with the flow like what I do."

Jaune nodded. "Let's try it."

I took a few steps back and covered my arms completely in stone. "Attack me as soon as you are ready." I said as the blond got out his weapons. Once the shield was fully extended out Jaune charged forward to swing at my chest. I blocked the swing with my arm barely feeling the impact of the blade. Why was he holding back his strikes? He drew the sword back and tried for a stab that I leaned out of before I kicked him in the chest.

"Why did you do that?" Jaune grumbled getting up form the ground.

"I never said that I wasn't going to attack you." I said earning a grunt from him. He tried another stab reaching too far out with the tip of his sword. I quickly went over and punched him getting the shield instead of his side. Good, he used it to cover his mistake. I moved back dodging a slash to my ribs. "Don't over think. Just attack and follow your intuition." Again he slashed to my right which I dodged then he spun quickly to slash at me again with me blocking it. "Good." I called swatting his weapon out of the way and struck him in the leg making him fall to a knee. I took a step then the blond knight got up and tried to slash me at the same time with a vertical strike.

"Damn it." Jaune cursed as I dodged another of his stabs and hit him on the shoulder of his sword arm. There was another instance of anger flashing across his face before it was stamped out. "Don't bury your anger, use it!" I said kicking Jaune hard on the left side where his shield was. I sent him flying into a tree trunk a few yards away. "Use your anger and frustration to empower your attacks, but do not let it cloud your judgment."

"Grah." Jaune grunted with a charge bringing his sword down vertically. I blocked it with my right arm feeling pressure on the blow that was easily several times stronger than the ones before.

"The shield is not only defensive it can be offensive too." I said weaving out of more attacks that flowed one right after the other. If a slash missed Jaune would flow with it to keep the momentum and try again instead of pulling back. It was a highly mobile and offense focused style of fighting that I came up with during my training time with Glynda Goodwitch and Ozpin, namely the later. "Bash your enemies with the shield to stun them or get them off of you and follow up with an attack of your own." I added then he tried to bash me though I teleported out of it.

"Cheater." Jaune huffed as he panted for breath.

"Hardly." I said waving a hand in front of me. "I am merely using what is at my disposal. And it's only a matter of time before you and the others fight against Conduits."

A look of seriousness came over his face. "What makes you say that?"

Honestly I didn't really have anything to base that thought on. Ozpin had said that the majority of Conduits were enemies to the kingdoms it was just a matter of time before they or I fought one, solely based on that. I sighed. "It would be better for you and the others to be prepared to fight them then be shocked when you first do so."

"That...makes sense I guess." Jaune replied before we resumed sparring. "Light Eve. I can only see your eyes." He added moving out of my melee attack range. To me the training ground was just as lit as day, though that was thanks to my Faunus night vision.

I heard Grendel's paws clap together once generating a muffled echo and floating orbs of colored light so Jaune could see. Looking around I noticed two colors; ocean blue and electric purple. My eyes quickly caught Raysel leaning against the tree I had kicked Jaune into earlier. From there Raysel and I took turns having Jaune attack us and we attacked him whenever he made a mistake such as reaching out too far with his sword, or being too predictable. This went on for hours until he collapsed covered in bruises, at which point me and Raysel sparred each other out of boredom with Grendel being a third party. We stopped at two in the morning with me dropping the unconscious and mostly healed blond knight in his team's dorm room before going to bed myself.

OoOoOoOoOo

The following morning I got up at 4:30 and did some house cleaning, not that there was much need for that. I also went into the kitchen to make a huge breakfast for my team as I planned what meal to give RWBY and JNPR. Making food for 8 people who may or may not be hungry takes a lot of time. Around seven or so my team members wandered into the kitchen dressed in various sleep attire, or in Raysel's case completely naked, with grumbling stomachs. It took some time for us to get used to Raysel walking around the house nude in the mornings. But we got used to it after finding out that nudity was a common occurrence in the ConCain Manor. I myself was in nothing more than my bra and panties that were black. Nolan was dressed in a black tank top and matching black shorts, while Isabel sported a dark blue robe she slept in. Her boys both had worn shorts and tank tops for their small frames.

"Morning." Nolan grumbled then yawned as he sat down at the table that the others had moved into the living room from the dining room where it normally rested the night before. It sat with part of the table in the edge of the kitchen with the rest of it's rectangular length in the living room.

"Hope you guys don't mind scrambled eggs, hash browns, and sausage."I said putting another package of breakfast sausage into a cast iron pan to the far right. Thankfully I had four burners to work with and a small flat top to cook on too. As the sausages were browning I poured some egg mixture into another pan next to the one for the sausages.

"No complaints." They echoed.

"Smells so good." Adam commented as he came up to me practically drooling. I had to admit, my cooking smelled amazing. It was comical to see Adam stand there looking up to the counter right as my tail swayed into his face. He let out a surprised squeal and staggered backwards causing us to laugh. I checked on the sausages and rolled them over to brown that side and flipped the eggs as well. I went over to the cabinet and got out five large mugs before filling them with hot tea from our three coffee machines. Originally we had one of them of them for the four of us, but discovered that didn't supply us with enough tea for four heavy drinkers. I ended up buying two more in Vale at one of the few stores I didn't get thrown out of for being a Conduit and or a Faunus.

I walked over to the table putting a mug in front of each team member and then fetched my own that I stuck by the fridge, left of the small flat top. The eggs and sausages smelled done so I got the pans and put their contents onto six plates, four for the teens and two smaller ones for Adam and Erik. After putting the pans back on the stove I put down a plate for each of them and then dished up my own last.

"This tastes as good as it smelled." Isabel noted happily as she ate feeding a few bites to a sleepy Erik from his plate.

"Agreed." Raysel chimed in consuming the contents of her plate quickly. "You should cook more often."

"Ditto." Nolan added and I groaned. "We're all pretty good cooks but you are better than us."

"Thanks for breakfast Eve." Adam said then chowed down on his own plate of food as I ate some of mine. I took a bite of Sausage and turned the burners off, moving the pans over to the cold flat top to cool off. I glanced at the digital clock by the corner that was past the sink a little. On the wall under the cabinets was mounted a digital clock, even though the oven had one too. The clock read: 8:45.

"After I'm done eating you boys are going to help me make a meal for teams RWBY and JNPR." Both Adam and Erik cheered as I mentioned them. I scarfed down my eggs and sausages quickly then started to clean up the small mess I had generated making breakfast. Over the next hour and a half I had the boys help me make some pancakes for Nora and a stir fry for the others. To top it off cookies were in the oven for the ever energetic scythe wielder. "Put something on Raysel since its almost time for them to be here." Rasyel nodded and went for her room then I turned to Isabel. "Can you watch over the cookies and make sure they don't get burned? They should be ready to pull out of the oven soon." She nodded sipping from her mug of tea. At that I went to my room and showered since I didn't do that last night.

Not long after I got in I heard voices. "Am I smelling food?" I heard Blake say slowly as if she hadn't been expecting it.

"Pancakes!" Nora cheered loudly.

I heard the front door unlock as someone opened it. "Come on in guys, Eve is in the shower at the moment." Nolan said followed by shoes on the carpet with the door closing after a pause.

"This place is incredible." Pyrrha said sounding surprised.

Incredible was definitely a word to describe the house. I finished up my shower quickly and got out to get dressed in something more than a bra and panties. After a minute or so looking through my walk in closet I decided on a navy blue t-shirt and black jeans. I exited my room to find Raysel just exiting hers. She had on a short black skirt and a matching black t-shirt.

"Who cooked all of this?" Yang asked as I rounded the corner to enter the kitchen.

"I did with the help of the boys." I answered. Her eyebrows were raised briefly as I spotted Ruby staring intently at the cooling plate of cookies.

"I didn't know you could cook Eve." Yang commented.

I sighed flattening my ears. "You thought I didn't know how to cook?"

Under my gaze she just stood there then raised up her hands in surrender. I shook my head raising my ears up and went over to the the lazy chair at one end of the table. "Come sit guys, there should be enough for all of you." Five minutes later we were all seated at the table with me at one end and Raysel at the other, then everyone else on the two long sides.

"Why did you want all of us here Eve?" Pyrrha asked making everyone look at me.

"I suspect some of you have been wondering about me for a while now, the truth about my history." I said looking over each of them briefly. I had everyone's attention thoroughly. Time to drop the first bomb. "I am from another world, meaning that I wasn't born on Remnant." The silence that followed was deafening with everyone having a face that showed shock to some level. Out of all of them Ren was the most calm but I could see the surprise in his eyes.

"WHAT?!" Weiss shouted making me put my hands on my wolf ears groaning. Good god the heiress could be loud.

"That explains a lot." Raysel said as I rubbed my ears to ease the pain a little. "No wonder you don't know even the most basic of things here. Things that even a frontier person would know."

"That sounds awesome!" Ruby commented making me chuckle.

"Hardly." I said waving a hand dismissively in front of me. "The world I cam from is nothing like this one, hell the technology is different and very far behind. Then there is only one dominant race that tends to slaughter each other over the simplest difference in skin color or religion." Ruby's face faulted with wide eyes as I told her more about earth, or at least part of it.

"Not much different than Remnant in that regard." Blake noted to which I nodded.

"The biggest difference is that there are no Grimm, no Faunus, and no one has special powers." A wave of surprise washed over them. "However there are things like TV shows and such and games too, along with many other entertainment related things. One such show was about this world and its people, which is how I knew your name Blake Belladona."

"That explains how you knew about my family." Jaune said drawing eyes to him before they went back to me.

"Yep." I supplied.

"Do you know the future?" Nora asked. I looked at her to see the plate of pancakes in front of her empty.

"No." I firmly replied. "There are a number of differences from the show I watched. The major ones are Grimmbloods and Conduits and my presence alone has probably altered things besides what I just mentioned. Some things are familiar to me while there will be many things I do not know about. Hell, some characters I may have been familiar with for the show could be different from how they were portrayed or not even exist." Nora hung her head before Ren put a hand on her shoulder for reassurance.

"I noticed Jaune did unusually well against Grendel yesterday in the sparring ring." Ren said glancing at the blond in question. "Do you have any information about that?"

I nodded.

"Were you taking him for a test drive in the Emerald Forest Eve?" Yang asked generating several blushes on people's faces, most notably on Jaune's face. Ruby didn't quite seem to get it if her confused face were anything to go by. Weiss and Pyrrha sported nearly identical blushes covering most of their faces with Blake's being less obvious, probably cause of the "Ninja's of Love" books she reads.

"No." I replied seeing Yang's grinning face falter as she raised an eyebrow. "I've been training him actually."

"Don't forget that I've been helping too." Raysel commented.

"Right." I commented.

"So you have no interest in Jaune?" Ren asked making the room silent once again as everyone looked at me.

I let my head fall back onto the top of the lazy chair before responding. "I have no interest in guys."

"So..." Yang drawled. "You swing the other way?"

"Yep." I answered lifting my head up. I swore I saw a glint in Pyrrha's eyes at that before it vanished. "Another thing about me: I was male before being brought to Remnant."

"That makes sense." Nolan commented. "That does explain why you haven't tried to jump at the chance of flirting with me or Jaune, both of whom you've been around a lot recently."

"So what's it like suddenly being the opposite sex?" Yang asked making me raise my head to look at her. A smirk tugged at her lips at the same time a light was barely visible dancing in her lilac eyes.

"Quite a shock honestly." I answered then yawned. "To top it off I had Glynda's help to learn how to live as a female."

"Was it fun?" Nora asked, curiosity ringing clearly in her voice.

"No!" I groaned closing my eyes and letting my head hit the table with a small thud again. "It was frustrating to say the least with my senses."

"Who gave you your name Eve?" Weiss said then took a bite of her stir fry.

"Since this is a new life for me I went with a new name." I answered. "How do you guys like the food?"

"It's good." They collectively answered. Great, more people who might demand my cooking in the future.

"You're as good a cook as Ren is!" Nora cheered with a raised fist.

"No last name?" Ruby asked as she chowed down on the cookies I had made for her. At this point they were nearly gone.

"Didn't exactly think of one. Though I did have Ozpin make a record that had me as someone with little official documentation."

"You need some sort of last name to make it easier to identify you." Blake said and that did makes sense. But what would it be? Silence took hold of the room as everyone looked to be in thought.

"Silver?" Isabel offered. The name sounded nice and that was one of my favorite colors, but it sounded a little...odd with Eve as my first name.

"Not bad." I said. "Any other suggestions?"

Another period of silence claimed the living room until I heard Ruby hum in thought. "I might have one."

"Go on." I said watching her.

"Varendir." Ruby said. "I just kinda made that up..." She added as if an explanation was needed.

"I like it." I said with a slight grin. "I'll use that as my last name Ruby."

Yang reached over and hugged her sister with one arm. "I'm proud of you."

"Yang!" Ruby groaned as her sister hugged her, though she made no real attempt to push her off.

"What was your family like before you came to Remnant?" Pyrrha asked making me hang my head silently. "Maybe I shouldn't have asked..."

"No, its fine." I said keeping my head down. "You're only curious." What was my family like? Well one part of it was incredible, at least where my parents are concerned. The rest of them on the other hand are crazy sons of bitches, and overwhelmingly female in terms of my cousins. "Well...my family was real close between me and my parents and a few of my cousins, though the rest of them were various levels of crazy." Were? Man, I was talking about them as if I wouldn't see them again. Now that I thought about it I probably wouldn't.

"Do you think your parents back on Earth are worried about you?"

"Obviously." Yang replied for me. In truth they more than likely would be worried about me. Especially since there was no body left where I had nearly died and a lot of blood, even some from the shadowy things I killed back then. Or maybe they somehow know that I am fine, but unable to come home or something like that? That seems far fetched to me but what else could I speculate?

"I don't know..." I said slowly feeling a little pain in my chest.

"What makes you say that?" Isabel commented before I heard a young boy lifted onto something, more than likely her lap.

"Before being brought to Remnant I fought with thin translucent shadow things in a school parking lot near where I lived. I managed to take out three of them but the fourth one got me, so there was a lot of blood where I fell." I said bring my head up to stare at the table in front of me. "However there was no body left since mine was taken and transformed to this." I finished gesturing to myself.

"What can you tell us about your parents?" Blake asked.

A small smile tugged at one corner of my mouth thinking about them. "Both of my parents on earth met when they were in the military and eventually left it. They are both intelligent people with different strengths and both are good cooks. I am a blend of the two, which includes the worst of their tempers."

"Meaning?" Grendel said causing me to look around the room for him. The Beowolf sat right next to Raysel's chair across the table from mine.

"My father and his family have explosive tempers, but they calm down fast. My mother takes a lot to get mad and when she does she stays that way for a while. In essence I have a explosive temper and I can stay pissed off for long periods of time."

"Thanks for the warning." Yang chirped.

I took a deep breath then released it. "Now to talk about someone else." I paused to focus my eyes onto the blond male. "Jaune, you have a secret to share." His face immediately lit up with surprise. "It's better if they know than hide it form them only to have someone like Cardin find out."

Jaune sighed looking down onto the table. "I... got into Beacon with a forged transcript."

"That explains why you do so shitty in sparing matches or school work, like someone I know." Raysel said as I narrowed my eyes at her with ears flattening.

"Very funny." I growled while Raysel just grinned shaking her head. That was something else that had carried over from my previous life if I want to call it that. I have a difficult time recognizing teasing from statement due to lots of mean spirited teasing when I was in middle school on April Fool's day. That's why I hate that holiday, a perfect excuse for many to be a complete ass.

"How did you get your hands on a forged transcript?" Ruby asked looking at Jaune.

"I'd rather not talk about it." Jaune answered. "I hope Ozpin doesn't find out about it..." He added with uncertainty echoing in his voice.

I laughed at this since I knew exactly who made them. Jaune, Pyrrha, Weiss, and Blake glared at me. "I know who made them Jaune, and it was the very man you speak of."

The fork he had just picked up clanged onto his mostly empty plate. "Seriously?"

"Mmhmm." I nodded. "I told him about it so he decided to let me train you how I want."

"I've seen bruises on him after you drop him off at night." Pyrrha said looking first at Jaune then to me. "How hard are you on him?"

"Rough." I supplied. "I'm training him until he drops unconscious and using my powers as we train, plus Raysel generally gets in on our training sessions too."

"I end up fighting both Raysel and Eve or whatever the two conjure up to fight me in their stead." Jaune explained.

"That's harsh!" Pyrrha burst out.

I waved a hand in front of me. "Hardly." Her eyes narrowed in slight anger. "First of all I told him the conditions of his training and he agreed." Jaune nodded which made Pyrrha seem to calm down. "Second what I am doing is being nice, because it is only a matter of time before you all face off against Conduits."

"Why do you say that?" Ruby asked as Pyrrha seemed to have calmed a little.

"In case you don't remember most Conduits are enemies of the kingdoms." Weiss spoke beating me to it.

"I forgot." Ruby muttered letting her head hit the table, just missing the plate in front of her.

"You all are welcome to join in the training my team does every night in the Emerald Forest." I said earning their attention once again. "That way you guys will have experience fighting against Conduits and Grimmbloods."

Yang hammered a fist into her palm. "Sounds like fun."

I noticed Isabel's ears flatten. "Is fighting all you think about?"

"One last person here has a secret that should be shared." I said drawing eyes to me before I put my chin on my hands. "It's your turn Blake." the Faunus paled. "If you can't listen to what Blake has to share Weiss...I will personally beat you into submission is that clear?"

The heiress's eyes went wide looking at me. "You wouldn't dare!?" She muttered.

I let a dark grin form on my face. "I will if you can't be civil."

Blake let out a sigh from her spot at the table. "As Eve says I have something to share." I looked to see her head down as she refused to look at any of us. "I used to be a member of the White Fang." Grendel quietly went over to Blake and took off the bow on her head revealing cat ears.

"What?!" Weiss stammered and I gave her a glare silencing further protest.

Blake took a deep breath and let it out. "I practically grew up in the White Fang. I was at every rally and protest, but that was when they were doing actual good." Blake paused to take a bite of the food in front of her. "Then at one point the leader stepped down and a new one took his place. However the White Fang changed using more aggressive tactics, like they do now."

I knew where this was going. "Their objective for cooperation was working better than it had before, right?"

Blake looked up at me surprised then nodded. "Out of fear the Faunus were being more respected, and not from mutual benefit. Because of that change I left them."

"I...hate...them." Weiss said slowly trying to contain her anger. I could see it clearly with her arms shaking. "They have caused chaos within the company killing or kidnapping so many executives and board members." She paused focusing on the plate in front of her that was half empty. Her face became less angry and held a softer, sad look. "My father was always in a bad mood growing up, so I don't know what a happy parent is like. You don't have any ties to them Blake?"

The cat Faunus shook her head. "I cut all ties with them when I left."

Weiss breathed a sigh of relief. "I will accept that you have moved past them."

"It's good that we got some things off our shoulders, but the mood in here is a bit dark." Yang commented standing up. "We need to go to Vale and have some fun."

They all looked at me expectantly. That was not an idea I liked so much. I folded my wolf ears down. "I'd rather not Yang."

"To Vale!" Ruby, Jaune, Erik, and Adam cheered at the same time. At that everyone stood up and began to leave the room.

"I guess I have no choice in the matter." I muttered standing up and heading for my room. I put on a pair of gray tennis shoes before leaving the house. Everyone was heading for the airship to the city, even Grendel was coming with us. I was not really looking forward to this, but with everyone hyped up for some fun in the city I couldn't exactly refuse. I caught up to them right as they approached one of the airship docks that had a boarding airship. We all sat next to each other with Grendel and I standing next to the side door.

"Got any place in mind you want to go to Eve?" Yang asked as the side door of the airship closed.

Truthfully I didn't have any place in mind because of the hate I received the few times I went to Vale for shopping. I let the back of my head rest against the wall of the airship. "None." I supplied. Ten minutes later we exited the air ship and had started down one of Vale's many streets. Already I was receiving dirty looks from the people looking in our direction. Humans weren't the only ones giving me a dirty look, Faunus were doing it too.

"There's an arcade not far from here." Yang said pointing towards an intersection before she walked to be in front of us. Our group quickly got to the intersection Yang had pointed to then turned right onto another street. Down a ways was an arch with a banner that more or less said "entertainment center". Past the arch I could see dozens of parents and kids walking about going from one place to another. My guess was that the arcade Yang spoke of was somewhere in there.

I saw one of the kids near the arch look our way before they bolted behind their mother's leg Despite the distance I could hear the child, though it was a little quiet. "What is that thing mommy?"

"A Grimm and its Conduit master."The female that the kid hid behind said. I clearly heard the disgust at the word "conduit". Evidently she hated Conduits like many others did. Granted they had good reason with most of them being enemies to the kingdoms, but that made it harder on those who were not such as myself. The child looked up to his mother with a confused expression. "Just avoid them and stay close to me." I heard as last as we neared the arch.

I let out a sigh as we passed it. Yang seemed to miss the hard narrowed stares of the parents that came my way. She led us past two arcade fronts to a third before she turned to go in it. Like the two we passed I could see a variety of gaming stations within the store through the front windows.

"Welcome!" a male voice called out from somewhere inside. I entered only to be greeted with the smell of age to this place and faint smell of many different people. The inside was largely decorated with bright colors that I guess was to match the active nature of the gaming stations. Isabel followed her boys who raced off towards what looked like a shooter game thing with small gun controllers.

"This looks like fun!" Ruby cheered as she zoomed over to one of the game stations near the front. This more or less looked like some form of dance dance revolution.

"You can't dance though Ruby." Yang commented making her sister pout temporarily.

Somewhere else in the area I heard angry footsteps then the cocking of a shotgun. "Get the fuck out of my arcade." A male voice growled, words dripping with venom. I turned to my right seeing the barrel of the shotgun pointed at my head. This close there was no way he would miss, unless I teleported before he could pull the trigger. The man holding the weapon pointed at my head was an elderly man probably in his sixties or maybe seventies. His gray hair was thin and short on his head and there was no visible mustache. Beady brown eyes full of hate glared at me as if they were trying to flay me. His brown suit was pretty musty and positively reeked of cigarette smoke.

"Whoa, whoa." Nolan commented from my left approaching the pissed off old guy. "Isn't the gun a little extreme when there are kids right around the corner?"

The old man's eyes were completely focused on me, so he more or less didn't seem to notice Nolan. "You abominations destroy everything you touch!" He hissed.

A hand grabbed the arcade owner's weapon then crushed the middle of the weapon rendering it useless. "And you think that justifies killing one of the few Conduits who is a law abiding citizen?" Raysel growled staring down the old man since she was almost a foot taller than him.

"Not you again." The old man growled trying to pull the broken weapon free of her grasp.

"You're the asshole who beat and threw my little brother out of this arcade a while back." Raysel said with a sigh. "Some of us fight so humans like you can be racist in safety." With that she let go of the weapon and walked passed me to the entrance.

"We're leaving." I called following Raysel out of the arcade.

"Not good?" Grendel asked bring my attention to him. The Beowolf Alpha was sitting down on the sidewalk. It wasn't long before the rest of the group came out to us.

"What happened?" Ren asked as I rubbed Grendel's ear absently.

I sighed. "That cranky old bastard pointed a loaded shotgun at my head." I glanced at him in time to see eyebrows rise up and for Pyrrha to gasp audibly with a hand over her mouth.

"Let's try another arcade." Yang suggested. I shrugged then followed her across the street with the rest of the group. This one was similar in decoration to the other one, but mostly in shades of blue. Tons of kids were inside this one and their parents. Though it seemed odd to me that I could only see one male among the adults, excluding Ren and Jaune.

Before going too far in I turned to Grendel. "I think it would be wise for you to camp outside unfortunately." He nodded slumping down onto the sidewalk again. Reaching into a pocket I fished out a larger than normal Scroll. Ozpin had commissioned this device as an experiment to see how Grendel would use it, if he could. "This is for you." I said handing it to the bound Grimm. I got out my scroll and slowly opened it to show him how. "It works like mine. The Scroll has a number of games on there, so you shouldn't be too bored out here."

"For me?" Grendel said tilting his head to the side.

I nodded. "Open it up and I'll show you how to find the games." The Grimm pressed the center button opening the Scroll. The holographic screen appeared with a blank background and a number of icons on the bottom. Over the next minute or so I showed him how to find the list of games on the large Scroll. Grendel had chosen a game that was more or less bejeweled. Once he got it going I went back inside to find the group split up again. Ren and Nora were over by a machine that held some sloth plushy in it. Jaune, Ruby and Yang were close to each other. Ruby and Jaune were playing some sort of zombie shooter game while Yang was focused on a motorcycle racing one.

Nolan, Isabel, and her boys were in the far corner playing what looked like air hockey. That left Blake, Pyrrha, and me at the entrance. I couldn't see Weiss anywhere so I assumed she was deeper inside the arcade.

"What are you waiting for Eve?" Raysel commented so I turned to her. "I checked in with the manager of this arcade. He doesn't have any problems with you being here, as long as you don't destroy anything." I breathed a sigh of relief. "However Grendel has to stay outside as to not scare off the kids."

"I've got him camped outside playing games on a Scroll. So he'll be fine." I replied before Raysel passed me.

"Do you know where Weiss is?" Blake asked so I turned to her on my left.

"Nope. I assume she's just further in." I shrugged. "And there's too many voices for me to pin point her, let alone smells."

"I better go find her then." Blake said before wandering through the crowd and out of sight.

"We should join them don't you think?" Pyrrha said from my right.

"Right." I commented then finally moved from the entrance. For three hours we played various games. Most of that time I spent with the redhead champion. We played a number of game stations next to each other or faced off against each other. Those matches I always won with my video game experience, but Pyrrha learned quickly. Towards the end of that time the champion and I played 2v2 matches on an air hockey table against Jaune and Ruby twice, Yang and Raysel once, Weiss and Isabel once, Adam and Erik twice, then the last match was Nolan and Ren. That one had been close but Pyrrha and me beat them by two points.

"That was fun." The green clad martial artist happily commented as we exited the arcade.

"Agreed." Jaune said then tripped over something if the yelp and meaty smack were anything to go by.

"Hmm?" Grendel voiced looking up from the screen to where his tail was. The blond knight had more or less face planted with a foot caught by the outstretched limb. "Watch surroundings better." The Beowolf commented using one hand to easily pick up Jaune. The blond panicked briefly being in the air then realized who held him. After a short pause Grendel put Jaune onto his feet then resumed paying attention to the Scroll in his paws.

"Is he...?" Blake mouthed unable to finish the sentence.

"Yeah." I supplied watching Grendel play the bejeweled game that had him matching tiny heads of various Grimm together to clear the board. There was heads of Nevermore, Beowolves, Ursa, a small icon that looked much like a griffon head, and another that was a tiny scorpion icon. As I watched Grendel matched a diagonal row of Ursa heads, allowing more icons to fall. Then one of the lower ones changed shape to a star with a dragon head on it. I turned to face the rest of the group. "Any ideas on what's next?"

Yang put a hand on her chin. There was a pause before she spoke. "Shopping?" At that word I couldn't help but see Jaune go stiff and start to turn pale. Ren didn't seem to mind the idea. My ears flattened as I sighed.

"Might as well..." I grumbled tapping Grendel on the shoulder. He looked to me then the group that started to walk off. He tilted his head to the side then brought the two halves of the Scroll together slowly. Once that was done he handed it to me, then we followed the rest. Our group quickly left the entertainment center once again on one of the main streets of Vale. This time the streets were crowded with people, human and Faunus alike. It wasn't long before our group got a few cat calls and I felt the pressure of many staring at me. Along with those I could hear quite a few conversations as I followed the others who followed Yang.

"Whose that chick in the back?" I heard a male on the other side of the street comment.

"The Wolf Faunus?" Another male replied. "She's that one Conduit attending Beacon."

"Seriously?" The first male said. "She's hot"

I glanced over to the sound of that conversation to see two guys about our age. They both wore casual cloths for the relatively warm day, in pants and t-shirts. Finding them staring at me I returned my gaze to the front. Most of the conversations revolved around the collective group of females. Though some comments had been made about the drained look on Jaune's face.

Speaking of the blond I caught up to him and placed a hand on his shoulder. "What's up Vomit Boy?"

Jaune turned to give me a weak glare. "You're using that nick name too?"

"Yep, now what's got ya drained?"

"Shopping." He answered with a defeated tone. "It is never a pleasant experience thanks to my sisters."

I couldn't help but giggle at that. "I bet." A few more turns later and the buildings took a noticeable shift. Most of what we had passed was cafes, office buildings, or a restaurant or two. Now they were stores for various wares, mainly clothing. "Didn't know there was this many clothing stores in Vale."

"Of course there is a lot of clothing stores." Weiss said focusing her gaze at me from next to Ruby. "The city is large and offers a wide range of name brands."

"Makes sense." I commented as Weiss turned around to continue following Yang. Crossing two more intersections the group stopped.

"We're stopping here." Yang declared waving her arms to the building on our left. It was a large clothing store lined with items. "Hurry it up!" She called before entering the monstrosity of a building. The guys and I exchanged looks then shrugged following the other females of the group.

The moment after entry I stopped mid step as the scents hit me in the face. I was already coughing at the overly strong smell of new cloths and the perfumes that were somewhere in here. With a groan I started rubbing my temples, already feeling a headache forming. After a minute or so I stopped and went to where I could hear Yang and the girls.

"There you are!" Nora called waving an arm excitedly. At this they all turned to look at me. Overall the looks they gave me was harmless, except for Yang whom beamed. The blond brawler had a mischievous grin on her face.

"How much clothing do you have Eve?" She asked a fire barely visible in her lilac eyes.

I could try to bull shit my way through this, but that wouldn't work. Raysel had been in my closet quite a number of times. She knew exactly how much I had. Time to open the gates to hell. "Not much, mostly casual stuff." She narrowed her eyes. "A couple outfits of pants and t-shirts." I explained further.

Yang's grin got a bit larger. "Skirts?"

"Three."

Her grin didn't falter. "Swimsuits?"

"None."

Her grin transformed into a Cheshire grin. "Dresses?"

I was about to answer her but stopped myself. Why the hell would I have any dresses? "Why do you want to know that?" I said narrowing my eyes at her.

"Oh come on." Yang said, that grin not leaving her face. "Don't you want to drive guys crazy? Or girls?"

My face grew hot quickly as I opened my mouth then closed it, finding myself unable to answer. The brawler laughed holding her sides while the others looked amused on some level. Though I could see Pyrrha sporting a visible blush. I tried to force down the blush but it stayed. "Fine." I growled keeping my eyes on Yang. "I see your point."

"Time to get you some new cloths!" Isabel cheered quietly.

I groaned. _This is going to end badly._ I commented mentally. At that moment Yang reached and grabbed my arm. She pulled me along several isles before stopping letting me see where we had ended up. Along the isle on either side was skirts of various lengths and colors.

"Let's see..." Yang trailed off looking between the clothing around us and me.

"Skirts was the first thing you went for?" I asked as she nodded. Yang finally reached for some clothing in a flurry of movement. I didn't have time to see what she choose before pulling me along again. She went around grabbing various articles of clothing for a good ten minutes then led me to changing rooms.

"Time to see the choices~" Yang said in a sing song voice calling the other girls over to us. She thrust the pile of cloths in her arms to me then urged me to a changing room.

Once inside I put down the pile of cloths on a bench then closed the curtain with a wave of my hand. The top pieces of clothing was a v-neck long sleeve shirt that was gray in color while the skirt with it was a dark red. Taking my cloths off and placing them on another bench I put the top articles of cloths. The shirt fit snugly with a nice soft feeling to the fabric. The dark red skirt ended at my knees, and didn't feel too odd with my tail. However there wasn't a hole to accommodate the extra limb so it was forced to go under rather than a hole to poke through. I exited the changing room with my bare feet being greeted by carpet.

"That looks good on you." Raysel commented before narrowing her eyes as they traveled down. "However something is missing."

"My tail is under the cloth." I said glancing behind me to see a little bit of my tail and the tip poking out from under the skirt. "Feels a little odd to have it under rather than over."

"Don't you usually have your tail under the school uniform?" Ruby asked, generating a chain of face palms.

"Eve's uniform has a slot to accommodate her tail." Blake explained.

"Oh..." Ruby said letting her shoulders fall a bit.

I waved a hand in front of me dismissively. "Don't feel down about it Ruby." The girl instantly looked to me. "It's not a detail you have to keep track of so I'm not surprised you either forgot or didn't notice." I went over to a nearby bench and sat down. I almost had to stifle a giggle at the feel of the fur of my tail touching inner thighs. Aside from that, a normal sitting position wasn't uncomfortable. I crossed one leg over the other to see how that felt and it was much the same. However it felt better if I didn't sit on the tail, but I could if I had to.

"No discomfort?" Isabel asked as Nolan came to a stop next to her.

"Looks good boss." Nolan commented looking me over. The others nodded their heads collectively. This made Yang beam while I noticed that Pyrrha was silent but seemed glued to me. I smiled at that and looked her over. The outfit she had was her standard one that we saw in combat class or out in the field. It provided some measure of protection while also showing off her athletic beauty without it being too much.

I walked back into the changing room and put on another shirt and skirt. The short sleeve shirt was a dark green while the skirt was black. It was shorter than the last one, ending at about the same length as the one for Beacon's female uniform. I exited again standing in front of the changing booth. This time all the guys were here. Erik and Adam were captivated with what I had on. Ren and Blake both held contemplative gazes as they scanned my form.

Isabel pointed to her chest with a hand repeatedly so I looked down. The shirt I had on fit, but just barely. The material was strained and it was then I noticed that my stomach was exposed. I looked to Yang. "Shirt's the wrong size blondie." I commented as she sighed. "I like the color though so if one of you can get it a size larger I'd appreciate it."

"What size is that?" Nolan asked.

I shrugged and took off the shirt before tossing it at him. That had gained a few reactions. Yang whistled not afraid to be caught looking over me. Jaune blushed and looked away. Moving on Ruby seemed to be carefully scanning my form as if inspecting for damage. I moved to the next person that was Pyrrha. She was captivated and...surprised? I was almost topless save for the crimson bra holding the melons on my chest.

"How did you get those?" Adam asked approaching me. He reached up and touched a finger to one of my scars near my waist.

"A dragon." I supplied and his eyes lit up like a christmas tree.

"Dragon?!" He repeated excited as the boy jumped up and down.

I nodded. "The scars you see are from the claws and tail." True to my words my torso held a lot of the scars with some on my arms. The ones on my arms stopped a little below mid forearm and went up to my shoulders. After running a finger along one claw mark under the left side of my rib cage he walked back to where he had been. After that I returned to the slide show of me putting on various shirts and skirts that Yang had picked out. I was accepting of nearly all the choices Yang picked out, though I declined the small pile of brightly colored clothing.

My ears twitched at the clicking of heels and the smell of potent perfume bombarded my nose. I started coughing as I put a hand over my nose. The source of the perfume came out form an isle of cloths behind Ren and the others. The woman in question wore a business suit with a skirt. Her black hair was tied up in a bun and her skin was white with a slight tan.

"Do any of you need help?" The store attendant asked with a smile present on her face.

"Yes." Raysel said with a nod. "Does this store have any Faunus clothing? Particularly those with a tail?" She finished gesturing to me.

The smile the store attendant had vanished when her eyes landed on me. "The store does not carry clothing for Faunus with tails." The reply was a little slow, and laced with hidden malice.

I handed off the pile of cloths I liked to whoever was near me. Ren accepted the clothing then moved off. With that out of the way I narrowed my eyes at the human in front of me. She was a little taller than me, but clearly lacked any real muscle on her body. "I see." I commented taking notice of her eyes. The beady blue of them did not look pleased to be talking to me.

 _I sense hatred...and anger._ Grendel's voice echoed in my head.

 _The human in front of me is what you likely sense._ I replied mentally. _Stay where you are and let me handle this._ "Do you dislike the Faunus, human?"

Anger flared into the human's eyes. "They are animals." She hissed solely focused on me. Out of the corner of my eye I caught Isabel and Blake glaring daggers at the store attendant, though Erik and Adam looked confused. "The White Fang goes around killing and doing as they please."

"That's real smart." I shook my head. "Label all Faunus as monsters just because one group of them is particularly violent in their beliefs." Her expression faltered and recovered in a flash.

"The White Fang has killed members of my family, but they are not the worst of them." The store attendant ground out then pointed a finger at me. "Your kind are the worst!" I simply kept a neutral gaze knowing where this was going to go. "Conduits exterminated what family the White Fang didn't kill! My parents and siblings were raped and killed before me!" Her hand shook violently with furious tears coming out of her eyes.

I closed my eyes feeling rage begin to boil to the surface. This was among the many things said about Conduits to me when I'm in Vale. Few places in the city gave me normal treatment, and almost all of them were in the Faunus District. This kind of accusation always angered me, as if I was the one whom had butchered a family, or raped children before killing them. The shuffling of clothing alerted me to movement so I opened my eyes, and caught the woman's fist. My right hand was clenched tightly with small sparks dancing on it.

"So you would damn one lawful Conduit for the actions of others?" I growled, the sparks now covering my right side. Terror and pain shown in her eyes that were locked onto the hand I held.

"Eve!" Jaune called out before walking into my line of sight. "Calm down." He urged. Those blue eyes of his begged for me to listen to him, though that wasn't exactly on the surface. Reluctantly I let go of the human's hand. She fell to her knees and started to sob with her hands over her face.

With a sigh I dismissed the power I had been calling forth. "I'm done here." I grunted walking out of the store. I stormed down the street passing Grendel before turning down a corner to get away from the store. For some time I walked weaving through the crowd with ease, a skill that had carried over from my previous life. Finally stopping I took a look around to figure out where I was. The buildings held an older feel to them with red bricks for some and others a dull white paint over concrete.

The people around this area were more Faunus while the humans about didn't look very well off, more like working family. Most were paying me little mind, only a glance or two if they did. The smell of food caught my attention so I sniffed the air a few times. The smell came from my right where I spotted a line of food carts. I got out my scroll seeing a text from Raysel.

The Grimmblood's text read: _"Need some time to cool off?"_

I smiled a little at that. _"Yeah. Get the clothing I handed to Ren and return to the house. I'll be there later."_ I texted her then glanced at the time. 5:15pm. I started walking again and put the Scroll away in my pocket. Unlike most times in Vale people didn't give me a wide birth as I walked. That was probably due to Grendel following me, though this time I was alone. I was almost always near Grendel so I was used to his presence. However it was relaxing to not have him or the others of my team around, as much as I view them as family.

"Hey!" A voice yelled from nearby. Someone walked in my direction focusing their gaze in my direction. The male in question was dressed in a long sleeve shirt that was a deep red. Dark blue cargo jeans adorned his legs while some form of boots were on his feet. Hazel eyes locked on me with a strand or two of messy black hair in the way. He waved at me with one arm. I kept my eyes on him as the guy stopped in front of me. His scent told me that he was human, though I could also smell fish on him for some reason. "Whats your name? Mine's Jack." He said extending a hand.

I eyed it for a few seconds before accepting. This human wasn't the source of my frustration so I'd better be nice to him. "Eve." I answered giving his hand a shake before retracting my hand.

"A beautiful name." Jack commented. "Just like you are." He added gesturing to me with a smile.

"Thanks." I muttered.

"Y-you d-don't believe me?" Jack stammered, clearly shocked.

"Pretty much." I shrugged. "Most demonize me, rather than comment about my looks."

His face scrunched up in confusion. "Why would someone demonize a wolf Faunus?"

"Why wouldn't someone if they are a Conduit?" I replied darkly then his hole body jolted.

He recovered from the surprise quickly adopting a more friendly expression. "Aren't you the Conduit going to beacon?"

I nodded. "You're taking this surprisingly well."

Jack rubbed the back of his head with a hand. "My parents taught me that not all things are as them seem."

"I see." I commented then started walking. Jack caught up quickly. "More or less not all Faunus are evil and same with others?" He nodded. "Happen to know of any armor shops in the area?"

"No." Jack answered. We walked a bit more in silence with him glancing at me a lot. "Are you single?"

I stopped walking so Jack stopped and faced me. "I am." I said raising a hand to stop him before he spoke. "And no, I am not interested in dating guys." Despair flashed on his face before Jack hung his head. I continued walking leaving the human to his thoughts. A few blocks from where I left Jack my nose picked up something unexpected. The scent of Grimm was in the air for some reason. I used my ears to try and listen for something out of place near me. I counted a number of small stores on this particular street.

Faintly I could hear conversation, though I couldn't tell what any of the words were. Following that and the Grimm scent led me to the end of the street. Located at the end of the street was a small shop whose window's were darkened. I couldn't see through them, but the front door as left open just a bit. The words on the glass door said "Damian's Dust Shop". Standing near the door a new smell greeted my nose, fresh blood.

"This is too easy." A voice commented from inside.

"I know what you mean." Another slightly older sounding voice spoke. "The owner didn't put up much of a fight and neither did the chick."

"What about the girl?" A third voice spoke, though this one was clearly female.

A child? Bloody hell. Probably the child of the dust shop owners. Sooner or later they'd just kill the child to make it easier on them. It was a shame I didn't have any weapons or my gear on me.

"Kill the runt." The first voice replied. "We don't need witnesses."

With a quiet grunt I turned invisible and entered. The store was small with eight total isles of items. Along two walls were dust dispensers that had been emptied. Next to them rested a number of closed metal suitcases. A middle aged woman lay dead in the middle isle with a hole in her chest that was huge. Almost like it had been the arm of an Ursa that stabbed her. Blood stained her nice looking white robes. Quietly moving towards the counter I purposefully knocked down some magazines on a shelf.

Silence reigned once the stack of magazines hit the floor in a heap. Moving away the thudding of boots told me someone was coming to check it out. Smirking I made my way into another isle that gave me view of the counter. Draped over it was a gray haired man whom I assume was the store owner. Blood ran down the front and pooled on the counter's surface. Next to him were two people wearing a uniform I recognized. Both of them were members of the White Fang and smelled of Grimm.

"I know magazines don't fall on their own so we got company." The second voice I heard earlier spoke. Then the one it belonged to came into view. It was a large man with horns poking out from his forehead. Guess that means this man was an bull Faunus. In his hands was a shotgun with two extra barrels on the sides. At his waist was a sheathed katana.

"Great." The female voice muttered. "That's all we need. Some idiot wanting to play hero." This woman was about the same height as Ruby with a white pistol in a hand pointed at something. She was lean with some visible muscle on her frame but not a lot. That could be very deceiving when it comes to Grimmbloods. "How interesting..." She trailed off then took several sniffs of the air. "Out guest is a wolf Faunus."

I made my way quickly to another isle that blocked line of sight between me and them. One shelf next to me held a row of different dust crystals that had not been collected for some reason. I grabbed a red dust crystal then a blue one. Respectively water and fire. I released the invisibility then smashed the crystals together. The effect was slightly painful and instantaneous. The water exploded into warm mist that blanketed the shop.

"What the hell!?" One of the two male White Fang members barked.

"Kill the human and get the wolf Faunus!" The female ordered coughing.

"NO!" A terror filled yell echoed through the store. I groaned at the volume but used it to find the child's location. She was somewhere past the counter. I teleported to the kid then teleported to outside the store once I grabbed her.

"You're alright." I said to the human child in my arms. Her beige dress was covered in dark red stains that I could easily tell was blood. "Calm down. You're safe." I added shushing the human as much as I could. However the scent of fear radiated from her. The cloud of mist was already dispersing, so it wouldn't be long before they came out. A roar came out of the dust shop before the large form of an Ursa charged out.

"You will pay for messing with us Wolf." The Ursa hissed. As my nose told me this guy was a Grimmblood. I narrowed my eyes at green glowing eyes. This was going to be difficult with the child in my arms, let alone near me. The little girl's hands clung to me tightly as her head was focused on the Grimmblood before us. My ears picked up the pounding of feet running on concrete. Glancing to my right let me see Jack running over to us.

 _Does that idiot want to get killed?!_ I screamed in my head, but an idea came to mind. I quickly managed to get the human child to let go of my cloths in a blur with some lightly applied electrical shocking. Then I turned to Jack. "Catch!" I called throwing the little girl to him.

"WHAT!?" Jack shouted right before catching the girl. He fell onto his back from the force, but at least that got the kid out of the way.

"Keep her with you and stay back!" I ordered summoning fire around my body. The Grimmblood charged at me with a punch of an armored paw. I ducked under the swing rushing forwards punching his chest. My fist collided with armor plating that covered most of his chest, but not all of it. Closing my right hand into a fist three large needles formed of electricity. I stabbed those into the Grimmblood's chest where the white protective plate didn't cover.

He roared in pain and and I began moving away. However a fist caught me in the side before I could get completely out of range. I grunted as the fist hit and sent me away from him undoing the aura of flames.. I landed on my feet a distance away with my heels digging into the concrete a little. I grinned ready for a fight. The Grimmblood recovered quickly focusing furious eyes on me. He inhaled deeply and opened his mouth before a cloud of flames came racing forwards. Kneeling down I placed a hand to the ground summoning a wall of ice to block the flames. Seconds later I saw some of the ice crack and bubble.

Charging my body with lightning I raced around the ice wall on the left. As I passed it the Grimmblood stopped exhaling fire onto the wall. In moments I conjured a blade of pure blue fire and swung at him. The blade sliced clean through one arm at the elbow. The severed limb fell with a heavy thud onto the ground next to me. Continuing the attack I teleported behind the Grimmblood slicing a foot. Armor plating and thick bones saved the limb from being chopped off, though he wouldn't be moving fast any time soon.

"You bitch!" The Grimmblood growled turning to punch me with his only arm.

I jumped up dodging the strike that hit the concrete generating a dust cloud. As fell down I pointed the flame blade downwards. It hit dead center between the shoulders going to the hilt. The force of my fall caused him to slam onto the ground dead and I dismissed the flame blade, making it dissipate. My ears picked up movement from the Dust shop so I leaned back. A few seconds later a large quill flew through the air where my had head been to stab into the side of a building. Turning my attention to the shop entrance awarded me with the sight of something new. The thing in question was another Grimmblood that had to be a Boarbatusk. Overall it was humanoid but with some pig like features that Grimm has.

The face was definitely boar like and the forehead sported horns that curved almost into a complete circle. Down the bare arms of the Grimmblood was spines sticking out through skin and I could see some more on his back. Next to him stood the third member of the raiding party, the female. She was also in her Grimm form which was akin to a Beowolf but much leaner with less overall size. However I bet that reduction in muscle mass means more speed if anything.

Blazing gold eyes glanced to the dead Grimmblood next to me then shifted back to me. "We can't take you lightly."

The spines sticking out of the boar Grimmblood twitched once, then he shifted position. I surged away from the Grimmblood corpse going for the boar. Stepping to the left let me avoid a spray of spines. Without warning the other Grimmblood appeared before me hammering a punch to my gut. The hit knocked the wind out of me and sent me flying. I crashed through a wall and into an abandoned apartment. A number of old smelling wooden furniture shattered at impact. Growling I ran back through the trail of destruction to the street.

Again I charged for the boar having to roll under another barrage of spines. The female Grimmblood intercepted me again trying for a slash at my throat. I leaned out of the attack and grabbed her arm in the process. Then I pulled on her left arm to move her forwards and hit her shoulder with a palm strike. I felt and heard the painful snap of bones popping out of place. With her shoulder out of socket I let go of her arm and back flipped putting myself closer to the boar. The moment I landed my back was peppered with spines.

I growled turning around to wave an arm at the boar Grimmblood sending an arc of fire at him. With a clap of his hands water emerged from the air in an arc to counter the fire. Smirking I waited for the water and fire to collide. A few seconds later they did and I punched the ground cracking the concrete. At my behest earth rumbled then heat rose up to unleash a geyser of fire. Hearing a grunt behind me I turned watching as the female Grimmblood put her shoulder back into place. The action was one movement before her gold eyes focused on me.

Not hearing a scream where the geyser had erupted I teleported behind the female Grimmblood. A barrage of spines flew through the air and stabbed into her chest knocking her back a few steps. That put her in a perfect place for me to attack. I spun on one foot kicking her square in the back with my whole body weight. The attack sent her flying into the top part of the Dust Shop and through the wall.

I knelt down placing a hand onto the concrete to summon an earthen barrier around me. A few seconds later I heard spines shattering on the stone. So those were something along the lines of bone? In one hand I conjured up a bow of sparking electricity then pulled the bowstring back. An arrow of pure electric energy materialized moments later. I focused power into that arrow making it spark more and become brighter by the second. After feeling another barrage of spines shatter on the earth wall I let it fall and released the arrow. It flew through the air right where I had been hearing the spines launch from.

It roared loudly drowning out all sound for me as it tore up concrete under it. The arrow struck home as a scream went off that I could barely hear over the roar of electricity. Then an explosion went off from the Dust shop spewing chunks of brick everywhere and sending out a concussive blast wave. That wave hit me and sent me crashing through another wall and into something. I coughed spitting out blood before something fell on top of me that weighed a lot. Whatever that was hammered into my backside stabbing and hitting my arms, legs, torso, and head.

I moved my arms which protested painfully but I ignored it with effort. Slowly I moved my arms so I could push up but I didn't move. Grunting I settled for something else. I pushed rocks and stone out from in front of my head. With some out of the way I saw light and a bunch of dust. Continuing to move the stone hurt like hell though I kept doing it anyway. Once enough was clear to move my head around a bit I pulled forwards with my arms. I hissed in pain at the action as scrapes and pain seared my body. After some time I got myself free and coughed waving a hand to try and clear the dust.

"You're a tough one Wolf." An annoyed female commented, then the dust cloud dispersed quickly. The female Grimmblood was back to her human form with much of her White Fang suit torn and blood stained. Burns marked a portion of her body on the front from electricity or fire I couldn't tell. "Though you look no better than me after that building fell on you."

Building? Looking down I saw what she meant. My clothing was largely gone and replaced with tattered scraps of cloth and lots of blood. Shards of stone and metal stuck out from my legs and chest with two large metal rods through my legs and another through my stomach. Glancing over my shoulder let me see countless shards of glass and stone in my back, which no doubt were also in the back side of my legs. My arms were covered in bleeding scrapes and a few small bits of glass stuck in them. I started to chuckle then went into a coughing fit before spitting out blood. Shakily I grabbed the two metal rods in my legs with both hands.

Her gold eyes narrowed skeptically. "You are at your limit Conduit." She commented as I tried to breath finding it a bit difficult. "You're on death's door."

In this situation I couldn't help the grin that came to my face. "Limit?" I spat coughing up more blood to spit out. "I can and will stop you, bitch." I hissed yanking the two rods out in one go. I let out a pain filled scream as blood erupted from the two puncture wounds. The Grimmblood's gold eyes were fixed wide open in pure shock and her mouth was agape. I threw the metal rod in my right hand at her seeing it impale her chest. She coughed up blood as my vision started to get blurry. I couldn't focus on her form very well and threw the second metal rod anyway. It hit something that fell over onto the ground with a thud.

Without warning I felt hands on my shoulder steadying me. "You're coming with me, Grimm Tammer Eve."

I tried to say something but my voice didn't work and blackness took me.

OoOoOoOoOoOo

"Let's hurry!" Raysel said to the mix of students with her as they raced for the sounds of combat. Her nose picked up a mixture of blood types. "What the hell are Grimmbloods doing in the city?"

"Hell if I know." Nolan shot back as he ran next to the Grimmblood. "Better question is where did Grendel go?"

"No idea!" Yang called from behind the members of Team ERIN. It wasn't long before the group came upon a gathering of people. The noise of powers let them know they had gone to the right place. The Beacon students started pushing through the crowd as electricity brightly sparked somewhere in front of them. Then thunder roared forth striking something that screamed. Seconds later an explosion rocked the street knocking things over and everyone watching except the Beacon students.

"Eve!" Phyrrha and Ruby called out at the same time as the Conduit was sent through a wall into an old building. For several moments nothing happened then with a creaking noise the stone building fell down sending out a large dust cloud.

The group stared at the collapsed building in awe. Isabel closed her eyes and buried her head into Nolan's chest. The dark green haired male watched the dust cloud carefully. Meanwhile the other didn't move or speak. Out from the right side of the street came a bloodied woman limping away from the remains of some sort of shop. Bleeding and blistering burns marked most of her body. Torn clothing that once was a full White Fang uniform hung loosely and stained dark red.

Shifting rubble brought their attention to the dust cloud across from the battered White Fang female. Groans and coughs sounded from the dust before a form could be seen a minute or so later.

The White Fang woman glanced at the dust cloud annoyed. "You're a tough one Wolf." With one motion of a battered arm the dust cloud dispersed showing one wounded Conduit. "Though you look no better than me after that building fell on you."

"Holy shit." Nolan commented quietly as he took stock of his team leader's damage. The Conduit was covered in debris that stuck out of her. Countless shards of glass and stone were in her back along with more on the backside of her legs. Arms were blood covered and various scrapes and cuts could be seen. Each leg had a metal rod sticking through the thigh with a third around her stomach area.

Eve tried to laugh but coughed before spitting out a glob of blood onto the ground. Shakily the Conduit grabbed each metal rod with a hand.

The woman across from her narrowed gold eyes skeptically. "You are at your limit Conduit." She commented as Nolan noticed Eve's ragged breaths. "You're on death's door."

Eve grinned keeping eyes on the Grimmblood in front of her. "Limit?" She spat before coughing up more blood and spitting it out. "I can and will stop you, bitch." The Conduit hissed pulling both rods out at the same time. She screamed in pain, but the female across from her stood still in shock. Moments later Eve threw the rod in her right hand at the Grimmblood, impaling her in the chest. Said woman staggered back a step spitting out blood. Then for a few moments Eve tried to focus her eyes, but couldn't. She threw the second rod scoring it through the woman's throat and knocking her down.

Suddenly a tall lean male appeared out of thin air behind Eve. He took several steps before placing hands on the Conduit's shoulders. "You're coming with me, Grimm Tamer Eve." The man said right as said individual lost consciousness. The man picked up Eve bridal style with ease and turned away from the gathered people.

"Stop!" Raysel barked as she focused her eyes onto the male. His pants seemed worn and dirty with age as did the gray t-shirt on his torso.

"Oh?" The male commented turning back to face the Beacon students. He chuckled darkly. "This is quite the surprise!" His yellow eyes glanced over the students carefully in one sweep. "I never would have suspected to see Pyrrha Nikos, Weiss Schnee, and Raysel ConCain in one place." White hair draped down over his shoulders to the middle of his chest with the rest of it behind him.

"How do you know our names?" Weiss said focusing her icy gaze at the man holding a limp Eve, though he did not seem phased by it.

"Give our team leader back." Raysel growled shifting form as a purple glow surrounded her body. At this the gathered crowd ran away from the Beacon students.

In a flash of light another male appeared next to the one holding Eve. This male was dressed in mercenary battler armor with a combat load of weapons on his person, and a shotgun in hand. "We've captured the Grimm, Sir."

"Excellent." The casual dressed male said. "Head back to base, I'll be there shortly."

"Yes, Sir." The mercenary said with a salute before disappearing in a flash of light.

"I've got what I came here for. Say hello to Ozpin for me." With that the man vanished from sight in the blink of an eye.

* * *

I'm nearly done with chapter 13 for Freezing: Wolf God (Crash Course) and I'm about half way through with chapter 8 for Void Warrior (Return to Nightmare). Next time: Wildcard


	5. Wildcard

After a little more than a year another chapter for this story is posted. Sorry for the delay on that, but as some of you may have noticed I was focusing more on Void Warrior and Freezing: Wolf God, putting this story on the back burner. Some things about Conduits and Grimmbloods are explained in this chapter (pertaining to the chapter's name). I greatly enjoyed volume 5, especially Raven's fight with Cinder. It shed new light onto a bad ass character I had already liked before.

This chapter was originally uploaded to the site at about 24,300 something words and now it is thousands more words than before, so it went through some changes from the original uploaded draft. However I am happier about this version than the last one. In case I haven't mentioned it before this story will contain yuri and lemons in later chapters (don't remember right off hand if I have made this known or not in previous chapters, and if I have I do apologize for repeating myself on that).

From now on italics within quotes _"like this"_ are for telepathic communication between characters such as Eve and her tamed Grimms as an example (to mostly make it easier on me and possibly for you guys as well). Now onto the story...

* * *

Raysel clenched a hand tightly. "Dammit." She cursed under her breath staring at the spot the the mystery man had been standing at.

Ruby glanced between the vacant spot and the angered ConCain. It didn't make sense to her that Eve was the only one taken from their group. Why take her and not the whole team? "Why?" That word left the young Huntress's mouth quietly.

"Eve is a Grimm Tamer." Blake began facing Ruby. "Grimm Tamers are rare and worth a fortune for scientific study."

Ruby's eyes widened in horror. "They're going to experiment on her?!"

Raysel grunted. "That is the harsh truth." She said shifting back to human form. "We need to tell the Headmaster about this, and I'll contact my family to see if they know who could have taken Eve."

Jaune frowned with a hand tightened. _How am I going to continue my training with Eve gone? What do they plan to do to her?_ A hand landed lightly on Jaune's shoulder jolting the blond from his thoughts. The hand belonged to the blue haired male of team ERIN.

"We can continue your training." Nolan said reassuringly as Isabel and Raysel nodded. "We're concerned about the abduction but at the moment we can't do much about it aside from telling Professor Ozpin."

The Beacon students slowly walked away from the scene of their friend's capture. The atmosphere around them was as silent as a graveyard. The two boys were not spared the solemn mood and stayed close to their mother, each holding a hand. After some time they reached Beacon with their destination clear. Raysel led the way with a fast pace that resonated urgency. The elevator to the Headmaster's Office was just large enough for all of them, minus Isabel and her boys.

"What brings you all here?" Ozpin said the moment the doors to the elevator opened. A cup of coffee sat near his ride side. Screens flickered out of existence as the silver haired man regarded the students.

Taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly Raysel stopped in front of the desk. "E-"

"She was kidnapped!" Ruby blurted cutting off Raysel who turned to her. "She got into a fight and was really hurt by a building falling on her!"

Something subtle changed in the Headmaster of Beacon. His gaze bored holes into the young Huntress at the same time he leaned forward slightly. "When did this happen?"

"About an hour ago." Nolan supplied now having thsoe eyes bore into him. "We don't know who it was, but they also got Grendel."

"Whoever it was had others who followed their commands." Weiss said getting Ozpin's eyes to shift to her. The intensity of that gaze made her nervous though she hid it well. "That man also knew the names of Raysel, Pyrrha, and me."

"For some reason being near the man who kidnapped Eve was like being near my mother." Raysel added shrugging. "It's possible that man was a Grimmblood."

Ozpin's eyes narrowed dangerously. A dark look crossed the man's face while a clearly felt aura of violence emanated from him. "You are all dismissed." He spoke with a careful tone of neutrality. The Beacon students quickly took the hint and left back to the safety of the elevator. All of them breathed a sigh of relief as said elevator traveled away from the Headmaster.

"I didn't think he could get angry." Raysel said leaning against the door.

"Talk about scary." Yang commented before the elevator doors opened. "We need to do all we can to find them both."

"Right." The others around her replied in unison.

OoOoOoOoOoOo

Jake Riddley couldn't help the small grin that came to his lips. It was a good day since he didn't need to battle the Conduit to capture her. The Wolf Faunus had surpassed his expectations by killing three Grimmbloods on her own. The soft splatting of blood reminded Jake that the Conduit was on a time limit. The Wolf Faunus was badly wounded with holes in her thighs clean through and one with a metal re-barb still in her chest. Glancing down the Conduit's skin had paled a little. Turning his eyes ahead of him again white dominated the landscape.

The halls of the building closely resembled that of a hospital, making it easy to spot any stains. Of course the blood dripping from the unconscious Conduit would need to be cleaned up later. It wasn't long before Jake took a left down a dark hallway. At the end of it was a door that opened the moment he was close. The room on the other side was lined with large tubes. Eight in total lined the far wall that were filled with bodies, save for one. Each tank held one individual within suspended in liquid. The individuals were a mixture of males and females that were human in appearance. They were covered with a skin tight suit of black stopping at the neck and feet. Each of the unconscious forms had numerous wires connected to them inside the tubes.

With ease Jake pressed a button on the console next to the unoccupied tube. With a hiss the lid to the tank opened. Jake moved the Conduit and set her up then closed the lid. Within seconds a glowing bluish liquid filled the tank and tiny robotic arms appeared from the top. The four arms produced blades that made short work of the ruined cloths and then collected the scraps for disposal. Those arms also came down to remove the metal rod stuck through the female's chest. After a pause the arms came back with a breath mask that was placed over the Wolf Faunus' face covering her mouth and nose. With that done Jake turned around and walked out of the room. He traveled down the hallway taking a left to continue further into the facility. After several minutes he came to security door where he put in a short number code into a keypad.

The door unlocked with an audible deep click before sliding back. Past the security door rested a large open room with numerous monitors and several control panels. At a chair sat a slim black haired man wearing a white lab coat over black slacks and black dress shirt. His soft blue eyes were deceptive to the intelligence within the man's mind.

"A good harvest Jake." The man said as his deep voice resonated through the room, once again speaking louder than intended.

"No need for the volume Victor." Jake groaned earning a chuckle from the other man.

"My bad, my bad." Victor replied turning his wheeled chair back around to face the control panel next to him. With a blur of movement two screens materialized in front of him. The seated man focused on the two screens that showed some form of charts and results of something. "This is interesting."

Jake grunted. "What is?" His yellow eyes scanned over the two screens in front of the scientist. He really didn't understand all the details shown, so that was left for Victor to work with.

Not answering immediately Victor pressed more buttons summoning images of cameras showing both the Conduit and another room that contained an unmoving Grimm with a familiar glowing collar. "The Grimm Tamer you just put into the tank is unconscious, and so is the Grimm bound to her."

Jake's brow furred a little. "Meaning?"

Victor snorted summoning another screen with images of crystals attached to wires that connected with the room containing the tanks where the Wolf Faunus rested. Eight crystals were situated into a line glowing pale green except for one. "As you can see she is different from the others completely."

Jake's eyes widened at the bright blue glow from the crystal knowing who it was connected to. _Only a few minutes in the tank and the crystal siphoning her powers is brighter and a different color than the others._ "Would it be safe to assume that her bond with the Grimm she tamed is different than the others?"

"Quite so." Victor replied changing the screens once again. This time it was an image of a chart that had seven lines of green and one of blue. In that chart the green lines stayed close to the bottom unlike the blue line that spiked high and stayed that way, even when going up and down. "The Faunus's bond to the Grimm is deeper and far stronger than the others. However without proper shielding that is also a weakness."

"Basically if the Grimm is killed she will be harmed?" Jake asked then the screens vanished at once.

Victor yawned stretching his arms over his head. "Exactly." The scientist stood up heading for the door. "Before you ask the Faunus should be out of the tank in about a week and a half."

OoOoOoOoOoOoOo

"It's been over a week..." Ruby groaned laying her head onto the desk of her dorm room. The young huntress was for once exhausted after the countless hours of searching for the kidnapped Grimm Tamer.

"I know." Yang commented from her spot on her own bed. As with Ruby she was dressed in her typical combat attire. With a swipe of a finger a location was crossed off of a list on her Scroll. "Raysel was right in saying that it wouldn't be easy to find Eve or Grendel."

"You guys aren't the only ones worried." Nolan spoke from the open window. Instantly the four girls of RWBY jumped up, or fell to the floor in the cases of Ruby and Yang. "I've noticed that the teachers are worried too."

Weiss nodded slowly. "I have seen that Professor Oobleck appears somewhat distracted during lectures."

"It's only natural they would be worried." Raysel's voice echoed in the room. Then there was a pause before the Grimmblood appeared in the center of the room from a cloud of black smoke. "If whoever took Eve finds a way to gain control of her that will spell disaster for us."

Yang groaned pointing to the Grimmblood. "Teleporting into the room like that is just plain creepy!" A knock sounded on her team room's door seconds later. It wasn't long before the door opened to reveal Pyrrha. The green eyed amazonian champion was clad in her battle attire with a aura of tiredness about her. The absence of the Conduit had effected more than team ERIN and the professors.

"How did the search go?" She asked in a curious but somewhat off tone.

Blake's eyes focused on the champion with her bow twitching slightly. It was easy to hear the curiosity, however there was another tone under it. The cat faunus wasn't quite sure if that undertone was leaning more to anger or desperation. With a shake of her head the faunus replied. "Another dead end."

Pyrrha's smile left her face as her eyes went to the floor. "I see." She commented before leaving, closing the door behind her.

Raysel yawned as the others in the room returned their attention to her. "I'm also worried about the amazon." To this the occupants nodded. "Pyrrha seems rather attached to Eve. Though I cannot say if that is because of friendship, the desire to be something more, or the fact Eve makes Pyrrha feel normal compared to the Conduit."

Yang pulled back a little with her arms in front of her. "You mean that she doesn't like Vomit Boy?!"

Raysel giggled. "I am sure she does as a friend who sees her as a person rather than an idol as many others do. However I couldn't sense romantic desire from her about him."

"Hold on a minute." Weiss spoke holding a hand up with eyes turning to her. "You can sense emotions?"

The Grimmblood nodded. "Due to my kind's Grimm heritage yes. Naturally it is easier for us to sense negative emotions, though with enough practice you can sense more positive emotions too."

"Still no leads at all?" Nolan spoke getting shakes of the head from everyone.

Raysel sighed. "Got nothing from most of my family. I did ask my great grandmother about it..." The Grimmblood shivered visibly holding her arms in over of her chest. "She froze the entire main building and was in a rage yelling out a name until my great grandfather could calm her down."

"She's the Frost Empress, right?" Nolan spoke a little nervous. Despite not knowing much about the Grimmblood's family he was familiar with the eldest ConCain through stories. Famously known as the "Frost Empress" for her nightmarish power with the element of ice.

Raysel nodded.

"What name did she say?" Blake asked watching the Grimmblood shiver one more time, as if she could still feel the icy fury of her great grandmother.

"Jake Riddley."

Weiss tilted her head slightly to the left. "That name sounds familiar..." She said pulling out her scroll. With a series of key presses the white haired teen pulled up something, and her eyes widened.

"What is it Weiss?" Yang said noting the look on the heiress's face.

In response a finger was held up. The others waited patiently for another minute. "There is an article about him that made the news recently."

"Fill us in Weiss." Raysel spoke at the same time as Nolan.

The heiress nodded. "Basically Jake Riddley is a wanted man with a extensive history of crimes and violence. The centuries old Grimmblood is responsible for countless murders, kidnappings, and stealing. His preferred targets are Conduits and Grimm Tamers. As with the disappearance of the Eve over a week ago. It is known that he has a sadistic streak from the remains of dead victims and the few survivors of captivity."

"That narrows things down." Ruby commented cheerfully.

"It does, however..." Nolan paused placing a hand on his chin. "We still don't know where she is held."

"We can continue thinking about where tomorrow." Raysel yawned then teleported out of the room. Waving goodbye Nolan leapt down from the window perch heading for team ERIN's house.

OoOoOoOoOoOo

The overpowering scent of sterilized something was the first thing I noticed. Then I felt cold things on my body. I tried to move but nothing happened.

"Awake are we?" A voice said somewhere in front of me.

I opened my eyes groggily seeing nothing but blurry shapes. After a few blinks things cleared up. A man stood in front of me dressed in sharp clothing, a blue gray suit trimmed in black at the edges of the coat and sleeves. Further down his body the pants also had a black line going down the center of the front to black combat boots. The man's face was angular in a handsome fashion with bright yellow eyes and short combed black hair.

"Where am I?" I asked with a hoarse voice right as my tail touched something. I could feel both skin and something hard around one ankle.

"My lab, little Conduit." The male replied with a slight grin.

"Lab?" I repeated before trying to move around to see behind me. It was then I felt something around my neck, wrists, knees, and ankles. _Bindings?_ I screamed internally feeling panic beginning to set in at the fact I couldn't move.

That grin got larger and more devious looking. "As you have no doubt noticed I have bound all the limbs of your naked form except for that tail of yours."

A slight shock went through me at those words. _Naked form?!_ I internally repeated. Looking down I did see bare breasts with those claws scars on them. I could also see that I was suspended above a sterile white tile floor.

I heard the man in front of me hum as boots clicked on the tile floor. I turned my attention back to him to see some movement like lazily swatting away a fly with one hand, then the restraints on my form shifted. Chains rattled noisily making me flick my ears to try and lessen the volume. They shifted so that I was upright spread eagle, but with my arms together above my head. "Interesting." He commented as I watched him get close to me. He drew a hand from one of his pockets then lightly brushed a finger over one of the dragon claw scars at my waist. "Few have taken on a dragon in melee combat and lived to tell the tale, little Conduit."

The gentle brushing of a finger over the claw scar at my hip sent strange sensations down my spine. The first sensation was like tracing a finger over the arch of your bare foot lightly, a strange but pleasant feeling. Then there was a feeling of something hidden in that touch. A feeling that sent a chill down my spine. That finger brushed the length of the scar then kept on going for another one next to it. That other feeling left a disturbing sensation just after the path of the finger as if trying to let a little something flow from it to me.

Heat rose to my cheeks at the sensations but I focused a glare onto the man. "Stop tracing my scars." I growled.

His head rose to look me on the eyes with a raised eyebrow. "Something you don't like?"

My tail twitched from side to side quickly at the same time my ears flattened. "I know you're trying to have something flow into me." I replied narrowing my eyes in a darker glare as my blush faded.

"I see." He commented removing the finger tip from my skin and backing up. "You are quite the perceptive one. Or is it that you have no desire for men?"

My glare lessened from that statement as heat came back to my cheeks. It was out of the blue and threw me off a bit. Letting that thought go I watched him with careful eyes. "Why would that matter?"

Shrugging he replied. "Thinking out loud."

Sure he was. Or he did it to see what kind of reaction he'd get from me. After that he started walking over to a wall then pressed something. A section of wall folded down revealing an array of tools, tools used to inflict pain.

"Rape is not something that I care for. However..." The man paused grabbing a short blade from the angled tray. The steel colored blade gleamed from the overhead light. "I need to inflict pain for the purpose of my experiments."

As he started walking to me I gave him a defiant look. "Hurt me all you like, but I won't break."

There was a momentary pause in his steps. However I noticed that a sinister grin came to his lips when the steps continued. With a hand he grabbed the top of my head tightly. His face came uncomfortably close to mine. "You are not the first to say that to me. And I will enjoy every moment of your suffering." With that the blade sliced down the left side of my ribs. I grit my teeth not letting a sound out to the action. The man backed up changing sides. Again that blade bit into my skin, though there was something else this time. A powerful shock ripped through the slice frazzling my fur and hair.

"Electricity?!" I spat in shock feeling a slight burning feeling in my body.

The man let out a healthy evil laugh. "In case you haven't realized yet, I am like you." A ripple of energy washed over him to reveal a Beowolf then it changed back. "I'm a Grimmblood." With hardly a pause that blade stabbed into my right arm at the forearm, then he electrified it. I let out a scream of pain making the sadistic Grimmblood laugh with a gleam in his eyes. That shock went on for some time before a muffled roar reached my ears.

I smiled in relief as the electricity stopped knowing who had let it out. Grendel's voice boomed another roar of fury letting me know his anger. For some reason I couldn't reach out to him mentally or access my powers. "You won't keep me here for long." I remarked since he was turned to the sound of the Beowolf Alpha's roars.

Within seconds his head snapped back to me. A dangerous look of challenge was there along with anticipation. A fist hammered into my chest knocking the wind out of me. "I knew this would be fun!" He said in a voice that was like a child finding out they were indeed going to their favorite candy store to buy anything they wanted. There was little wasted time before another fist slammed into my stomach painfully. Blood spilled form my mouth mostly on my naked form, though some I'm sure landed on the floor. The sadistic man took several steps back turning around at the same time.

A spark of electricity lashed out from one hand. That electricity moved like a whip stinging and cutting at the same time. The first mark was centered on my abs. Then the next came from the other hand as he spun laughing the whole time. It left a mark just under my breasts causing me to scream out a bit. Two more marks were left on my them before more were made on my legs and arms. After that a final strike landed on my jaw. The force jerked my head upwards to the left hard. My vision blurred a bit while I tasted more blood in my mouth. I barely herd the crackle of electricity stop.

"As much fun as this is I cannot hurt you too badly on the first day." I heard with his voice seemingly distorted. He stayed for some time then moved over to the wall and did something I couldn't see. With a high tech hydraulic sound something moved then I saw him leave the room. My eyes grew heavy and I surrendered to sleep. I awoke to a room without any lights and smelled a little musty. I felt stone tiles under my legs while pain gnawed at my form. Moving was uncomfortable but I could feel that some of the bindings from earlier were gone. I felt a shift of something in the air near me. Glancing around the room I saw walls and one of them had thick metals bars, much like a cell.

I noticed a moving outline that stopped in front of the bars to my cell. That outline let me know whatever this thing was, it wasn't human. Overall what I could see placed this thing around the size of a lynx or bobcat. Then the outline vanished in a ripple of electricity. My eyes widened a bit as black and white dominated the form of the creature. Most of the body was covered in sections of armor plating that was white while I could see black skin or something through the cracks. It held the form of a cat with six eyes in triangular formations on either side of the head. Then it walked to me with a sort of harmless calm. It was hard not to notice the finger like toes on each foot that more than likely had retractable claws.

To my amazement the creature walked through the bars as if they weren't there before sitting down a little a head of me. With a bow of the head and some of the front body I realized the glow was a solid blue not the red I knew from Grimm. I tried to move closer to the feline only to find myself short. Clinking reached my ears letting me know I was chained to a wall with some room to move.

"Hello Mistress." The Grimm creature spoke with surprising clarity.

 _How the hell can a Grimm speak this clearly?_ I thought before shaking my head to focus. "Mistress?" I repeated feeling the soreness of my jaw from the last hit of the electrical whip.

The creature nodded. "Your power calls to me. The others are..." The feline tilted its head to the side as if in thought. "Lacking."

"How can you speak so clearly?" I asked feeling that this Grimm creature wasn't going to attack me for some reason. "Who tamed you?"

The creature snorted. "I was made, not tamed."

Again my eyes widened a little. This Grimm was _created_ rather than found in the wilds? Who the hell would think to make Grimm with powers? "Where were you created?"

The feline tapped the front left paw out of eight on the floor several times. "These labs."

The same labs that the guy who tortured me owned? Then it clicked; that man needed data from Grimm Tamers to make Grimm of his own designs with the powers of a Conduit. "I need to get out of here." I muttered with a growl jerking my arms as I watched the chain on the wall jiggle, but not break.

"I can get you out." The Grimm said so I turned back to face it. "But you must wait some days for the best opportunity."

That was better than nothing, but not exactly what I was hoping for when the Grimm mentioned it could free me. "How long?" I asked feeling a bit of dread for the answer.

The Grimm held up both front paws displaying four clawed toes on each of them. "Eight days."

"Eight days?" I hisseded narrowing my eyes. I was not looking forward to enduring eight more days of this torture. "Can't you do it sooner?"

It shrugged its shoulder looking apologetic. With a shake of its head the Grimm replied. "Sorry Mistress. Must wait for a prime opportunity." Then the Grimm walked up to me placing its forehead on mine. Seconds later I felt something connect the two of us like I had Tamed another Grimm thought it was different. After some time the Grimm's head left mine.

I touched my forehead feeling a lingering tingle sensation that faded fast. "What was that?"

The Grimm stopped before the bars to my cell looking over one shoulder. "Despite your bindings we are now linked. You can now connect to me and see beyond your restrictions whenever you wish." With that the Grimm phased out from my view. However as it said I could feel it walking away on the ceiling before their presence was out of range. Maybe I could get some use out of this kind of bond. Yawning I closed my eyes to sleep.

Bright light shined onto my closed eyes. I groaned at the sensation before hearing boots on stone floor. I opened my eyes to see two people in armor carrying a rifle each. Both of them aimed their weapons at me while another that didn't carry a visible weapon came up to the door. The bars slid into the floor and ceiling automatically then she produced a key that unlocked the chain from the wall.

"Don't both to try and use your powers wolf." The woman who unlocked the wall chains grabbed that end in one hand. Her slender form belied the strength that tugged at the chain. "The chains on you seal those powers away." She added further as she led me from my cell. The two armed guards followed behind me with weapons still trained. I took note of the surroundings that changed from holding cells to the white halls of a lab or hospital. However my ears and nose told me numerous things. My ears caught the sounds of muffled screams mixed with the sounds of machinery. My nose easily caught the scents of blood and potent chemicals that either cleaned up messes or the untold amount used for whatever experiments were done here.

The hallway had no windows and only a few checkpoints with guards in armor. The woman leading me around produced a card each time we met a checkpoint. From that item she was able to move on after doing something with it I couldn't see past her lab coat. After the third checkpoint the woman led me down another hallway that held a right turn at the end. Once past that bend a strong looking security door stood in the way. The scientist jerked the chain she held forwards. The force was almost enough to have me crash into the metal door. I heard the distinct sounds of keypad buttons being pressed before the door hissed open.

The revealed room was large with a flat metal floor that held countless marks from claws and other things. Overall the room was once maybe white, but the scars from claws or elemental attacks had changed it to a dull gray-white along with stains of red. Another yank on the chain had me walking to keep up lest her or the guards do something. Along one wall three wheeled kart like trays were parked with a lot of things on them. I had a good enough glance to recognize those were tools like the ones I had seen the first time I met the man who owned these labs. I was led to the center of the room where the woman let go of the chains only for them to extend to the ceiling. Briefly pain flared around my neck then I felt my bare feet leave the ground. I watched her weave her hand in some pattern feeling my limbs move and bindings appear on them. She had me bound spread eagle with my arms suspended above my head with wrists bound together.

Her blue eyes looked over my form in a calculative manner. "I am a little jealous of you Conduit." She spoke with a softer voice than I had expected, though I could sense a dangerous hint to it. "You have a much better figure than I do." The woman took two steps closer then reached out grabbing one of my breasts in a hand. "Especially these." She added with evident venom. Her grip tightened for a few seconds then the let up and walked away.

A snap of fingers summoned robotic arms that came into view with several needle attachments, scalpels, and a small buzz saw. The third arm that came down from the ceiling contained three different attachments that stirred fear within me. Those were a sprayer connected to a small tube full of semi-translucent green fluid, another with a fiery red fluid, a glowing branding tool, and a pronged tool with arcing electricity between the two teeth.

"I look forward to seeing how your pet will react to your pain Grimm Tamer." A male voice echoed from some sport of speakers while the slim woman exited the room taking the two guards with her. "First is one of those injectors." The male voice added as I whipped my head to the side seeing a observation deck behind glass. On the other side of the glass I spotted a male in a lab coat standing over what could be some form of console if the movement of his arms was any indication. He was a slim man of some height dressed in a black shirt with some form of slacks I couldn't see clearly. Seconds later I felt a needle pierce skin and something come out of it. My vision blurred moments before my body felt as if my insides were burning.

OoOoOoOoOoOo

"Again!" A familiar voice barked signaling another round. Jaune panted glaring at the Grimmblood in her form fitting sports attire he knew she had on from when they started the night time sparring match. She had dragged him out in the middle of the night to the woods for practice, again. He admitted that this training made him quite tired overall, but he could feel a difference from before. Soreness covered his form from the several hours of sparring with the Grimmblood who was by no means tired.

A fist came for him from the right traveling at speed. Jaune had learned from these training sessions that taking hits from either Raysel or Eve hurt, badly. So he ducked under the blow having trouble seeing the limb in such low light. With a few moments pause the blond knight threw a left handed punch towards where he thought his target was. His fist was quickly met with a slap of a hand directing the punch harmlessly away from her. Following that was a palm strike to the chest sending Jaune back several meters spitting out blood.

The Grimmblood held her position for a few seconds as the blond knight landed harshly on his back. She could see that the impact had knocked the wind out of the poor human. She stood up relaxed snapping her fingers. At the action dozens of small glowing orbs materialized giving the area a purple hue and light for Jaune to see. "That's enough for tonight." Raysel said walking over to the panting male. She knelt down placing a hand over one of his thighs. As usual the boy was covered in dark bruises and some bleeding scratches from the forest environment around them. Power flowed from her to his form visually dispelling the injuries he had gained.

"Okay." Jaune replied with a slight cough at the end basking in the feeling of his pain fading and injuries getting healed. How Raysel or Eve were able to do that didn't matter as the sensation was quite relaxing and felt good. The blond closed his eyes absorbing the warmth healing gave him, though his mind drifted. Over the time that Eve had been missing teams ERIN, JNPR, and RWBY had done their best to look for the Grimm Tamer. Sadly their search had gone empty handed with no real leads as to where she had been taken. However there was a single powerful lead, Jake Riddley.

According to an article that Weiss had shared with her team then the other two that man was a Grimmblood centuries old. Known for many crimes and a sadistic streak. He also remembered that Jake was known for targeting Grimmbloods and Grimm Tamers over others. Despite that information they had no clue where he had taken the Conduit. Just where could she have been taken?

"All done." Raysel commented with the warmth of healing leaving Jaune's body along with the relaxing feeling. After that she grabbed the collar of his dark blue shirt and effortlessly pulled him to his feet. "Something on your mind?" She noted a distant look to his face as if the kid was wrapped in his own thoughts. I was an expression that was showing itself more and more lately.

He blinked a few times then shook his head. "Somewhat." He admitted scratching the back of his head with a free hand. A quick glance down let him know that once again the laundry staff would get their work cut out for them with the amount of dirt and forest debris his current cloths had on them. Not to mention he would have to go to Vale to buy some more cloths from the cuts that his current pants and sweater had.

"Care to elaborate?" Raysel asked placing a hand on his shoulder before teleporting them to the main courtyard of the school.

Jaune's gaze turned to the sky letting him see the moon shining brightly in the cloudless night sky. He took in a deep breath and let it out slowly. "I can't help but think that there is something we're missing on our search for Eve." One hand reached out towards the broken moon and that hand closed as if grabbing it. "Something just out of reach."

Raysel grunted in agreement before the two of them began walking. Their trip was silent enjoying the calm night. It wasn't long after the teleportation that they parted way to their respective sleeping areas. The following day teams ERIN, JNOR, and RWBY met together in Vale for the purpose of searching for the missing Conduit of Beacon. They split up asking around various places in the city, some even going for the more questionable spots in the city.

"Are you sure this guy is gonna have the info we need?" Nolan Quester commented stepping off of the motorcycle that Yang seemed quite attached to. The blond brawler was quite the chaotic driver, but he didn't mind. The afternoon sun burned hotly overhead giving off the feeling of summer, yet it was still fall.

The blond brawler cocked her head to the side with a grin. "I'm sure I can talk him into giving up some information." With that she took off her helmet, placing it on her bike, then strolling over to the bar entrance. Shrugging Nolan followed her into the bar quickly finding a large open room with overhead spotlights and more focused laser lights. In the middle of the floor was a raised part of it with a black floor and red lines that formed squares on it. All along the room men dressed in black suits with red cuffs and gloves watched them carefully. Nolan's gaze shifted towards what appeared to be Yang's destination. At the bar stood a man who was different from the others in suits and sunglasses. The suited men all stopped what they had been doing to watch her carefully.

Even over the loud techno music Nolan heard the man groan. "Not you again."

Yang sat on a bar stool with Nolan taking the seat to her left. "I need some information Junior."

Junior sighed running a hand over his short black hair. He was quite tall with gray eyes and a beard that followed the line of his chin. A black vest rested over a white dress shirt while black gloves covered his hands. Around his neck hung a red tie matching the ones worn by the other suited men in the bar. "About what blondie?"

Nolan leaned forward getting Junior's attention. "A man whom has a keen interest in Conduits."

The man behind the bar paled considerably. "What do two kids want with a monster like that?" Junior said struggling to keep composure.

Yang's eyes flared red as she narrowed her gaze at the club owner. "He took a friend of ours." Her voice echoed with anger.

Nolan leaned back at the intensity of her gaze while Junior flinched. "Anything you know about Jake Riddley will help us." The blue haired male said drawing Junior's attention giving Yang time to close her eyes and take a calming breath or two.

Junior's eyes glanced from Nolan to Yang then scanned the room. It wasn't long before those gray eyes came back to Nolan's own. The man took a deep breath then let it out slowly. "I don't know about that man. Though there is a number of groups interested in the Grimm Tamer at Beacon." Junior paused glancing around the room once more before leaning forward. Getting the hint Nolan leaned close to the man. "There is a group I heard of that has a keen interest in Grimm Tamers and their powers. They have a some research places within the city."

Nolan nodded committing the information to memory. "What are they called?" He whispered back.

Junior was silent for some moments before he swallowed. "Marlow Compact."

Leaning back and seeing the traces of fear on the other male's face Nolan smiled. "Thanks." He said placing down three cards of currency. He then grabbed hold of Yang's arm and led her out of the bar.

Yang yanked her arm only to find that Nolan's grip was firmer than she thought. "I can follow you." She commented feeling Nolan release his grip.

Nolan pulled out his scroll and dialed a number. Within moments the face of Raysel appeared along with the background of a rooftop cafe. "Did you find something?" Raysel's voice echoed out of the Scroll.

"Yeah." Nolan said stopping next to Yang's motorcycle as the blond got it running. "I want you to investigate a group called Marlow Compact who, according to Yang's source, has interests in Grimm Tamers and their powers."

Raysel nodded. "I don't have much skill in hacking but I can put one of my brothers to this."

"Do it." Nolan commanded getting another nod before closing the Scroll, killing the connection. "Lets get back to Beacon and meet up with her."

OoOoOoOoOoOoOo

"That Conduit is something else." Victor commented with a content smile once more scrolling through data on three different holographic screens in front of him. The man reached to his right grabbing a coffee mug. His eyes glanced through one of the gaps between two screens to the room below. The reinforced glass let him see the blood stained white tile floor. It slowly trickled to the circular grate in the center of the floor. From there Victors eyes scanned the rest of the testing room where other spots of dried blood rested, uncleaned. However at that moment three people in hazmat suits entered with cleaning supplies in hand.

"She is, however something about her is troubling me." Jake Riddley commented from his spot leaning against the left side of the door frame.

Victor turned his chair to face the Grimmblood. "Is it her resilience to the experimentation?" Jake shook his head. "Her power?"

"Her power?" Jake repeated slowly mulling the words over. There was definitely something about the sheer power the Grimm Tamer possessed. The Command Crystals fabricated from her taming powers were beyond anything else his labs had been able to make since it had been started over ten years ago. One of those Command Crystals were able to control a dozen or so lessor Grimm at once, and supply them with minor versions of Conduit abilities. However a gut feeling told the him it wasn't the Grimm Tamer's power that had him troubled. "Her power is substantial, but it's something else."

Victor turned his chair back around before finders typed on holographic keys. "Has anyone from this lab done a thorough DNA scan of our latest catch?"

Jake shrugged. "I haven't told anyone to do that, so I would think not." His eyes shifted from the clear glass to the scientist rapidly typing in commands to one, if not all three, of the holographic screens before him.

Arms and fingers moved in a nearly dizzying blur as Victor did whatever calculations he needed via computer commands. Almost a minute passed as he worked his magic on the terminal. The scientist noticeably froze without warning. For a few moments he remained motionless then resumed animation. "This is startling." He commented typing in a several more commands into the terminal before facing Jake once more. Between the two men flashed into existence a holographic image of a portrait. That portrait was of a teenager of probably seventeen. The eyes of the female were a brilliant ocean blue that was more or less a match to the recently acquired Grimm Tamer while the hair was of a lighter shade being closer to silver or marble white. However the most distinguishing feature was the lack of wolf ears on the female's head.

A jolt went through Jake as his eyes finished going over the image. "I killed that kid eight months ago!" The Grimmblood said in disbelief. "How the hell is she alive again?" He added barely a whisper.

"Hell if I know." Victor said with a shrug. "The point is that kid is alive, but with some genetic modifications that allow for Grimm Tamer powers." _However it seems the still present Grimmblood genes are dormant. Who or what did that?_ He added mentally, keeping that for himself.

A buzzer sounded in the room before a voice echoed from the room's sole speaker above the entrance. "Major Riddley. The Conduit you had put in Testing Room Five this morning has killed three lab assistants."

Jake pushed himself from the door frame straightening. "How?" He asked knowing the speaker worked as a microphone.

"She tore off the chains from the wall that were connected to her wrists. Even bound and unable to use her normal powers she is dangerous." The voice replied sounding clearly annoyed with a hint of worry.

A smirk worked its way to Jake's lips before it vanished for a neutral expression. "This is the perfect excuse to see the wolf Faunus." With that he turned on a heel swiftly leaving the room. His feet carried him with quick purpose down the hall to a left turn then a right. At the end of that aged hallway stood an equally aged door of metal grating. Pulling it to the side Jake entered going down the long flight of stairs. At the bottom of those stairs was another door with faded blue paint that had seen better days. After passing through that door a very large cavern greeted him. The area had been there for nearly three hundred years and was the perfect spot to have large rooms made for the purpose of experimentation for things that were not so legal. A sense of satisfaction filled him as he traveled down the catwalks from the ceiling towards the ground floor of the cavern. Almost everywhere his eyes looked were the signs of efficiency with lab assistants in gray green scrubs and mercenaries moving about with purpose. They kept the labs running on time and mostly clean.

However his eyes turned to the one room he was going to. The satisfaction from earlier faded to be replaced with neutral calm. It was hard to believe that the chains which had been firmly secured to the wall of Testing Room Five had been _torn_ off. Those chains had been specially made to be incredibly durable, including the wall base. For years the chains had contained Beowolves, Ursa, and a few Conduits. During those times they showed no signs of significant damage. However Sargent Striker was not one to report something beyond reason to his commanding officer. With a shake of his head Jake jumped down from one of the lower catwalks to the ground clearing if effortlessly. It was amazing what being alive for seven hundred years could do for one's body. Although not in Beowolf form his ears could pick up the sounds of struggle in the approaching room.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOo

Blood blocked vision in one eye though it didn't matter as I had one of the bastards who had experimented on my in my hands. Unlike the last three bodies lying dead at my feet this one was among the mercenaries that worked something along the lines of security. She struggled against my hold as the chains that were connected to my arms helped in chocking her. One elbow hammered into my ribs repeatedly in a painful barrage. I ignored that in favor of trying to kill my target who was getting desperate. A armored boot slammed down onto a bare foot with an audible crack. I barely held back a scream, but that did interrupt my concentration. My arms slacked in their grip unwillingly, and it was seconds later that I felt myself go airborne.

Air left my lungs a moment after my back slammed into the hard concrete floor of the room. I watched as the human mercenary started untying the chains around her neck while air refused to go in my lungs. After several deep breath attempts air finally came to my lungs with her almost having the chains free of her neck. With a growl I shifted on the floor, turning to deliver a powerful kick to one of her legs. The blow landed with my shin crashing into the body armor the mercenaries wore. However the force behind the strike wasn't hindered much and it threw that leg out from under her. She fell to the floor hard crying out when her head crashed into it. I rolled forwards then sprang up with a small jump. Seconds later I slammed an elbow into the human's chest.

Blood shot out of her mouth with a gasping cry. Wasting no time I pinned her down with a knee just under her breasts and began to pummel her with both fists. Blood splashed out of her mouth with each impact to either side. A knee rammed into my back hitting right about the base of my tail. I screamed out as nerves cried out in agonizing protest. My eye stayed on her through sheer will as the human regained breath and had a moment to do something. She quickly produced an edged weapon that glowed red orange the moment I saw it. With one hand she thrust it at me. Immediately I leaned back to avoid the weapon. As I leaned back the blade sliced clean through the chains between my wrists with ease. The woman's brown eyes widened in shock since my arms were now free to move independently of each other.

I grabbed her armed hand at the wrist and punched her chest with the other hand. Concrete cracked from the force with more blood coming out of her mouth. Some droplets of blood landed on my face and I grinned putting as much pressure as I could muster onto the wrist I held. She tried to move it from my grip to no avail. The armor strained under my grip then cracked followed by another crack that was no doubt her bone breaking. The edged weapon dropped and stopped glowing the moment if left her hands. I snatched it from the air with my left hand slashing her throat at the same time. Blood gushed out from the wound as air wheezed out of her. Just to make sure she died I stabbed the blade into her heart, going through the armor with the same ease it cut through the metal chain.

I watched her eyes dull in color signaling her demise. Boots on concrete alerted me to someone-no more than one coming. I took a moment to wrap the chains around my forearms and knucles as added offense and some defense. Quickly looking over the woman it would be impossible to wear her armor as she was shorter than me by nearly a foot. It didn't help the woman I had just killed was quite plain, meaning that none of her armor would fit around my chest or hips. Turning my attention back to the door I slid up next to it on the right side, then waited. Hours seemed to pass as I carefully listened to the footsteps of four people. In anticipation I held the knife I had acquired in a back handed grip, which would make it easier to stab into the throat of whoever entered. Ears flicked this way and that with each set of sounds. Finally the door hissed open at a volume that might be hard for human ears to detect. I watched carefully as the man who entered looked away from where I stood leaning close to the wall.

With that opportunity I lashed out plunging the knife into the exposed throat. As quickly as I could I pulled the knife back splitting open the vulnerable spot, coating the floor with more blood and left my arm. Pulling the limb back I front flipped over to the other side of the door frame hoping that the next person would look to where I had been. A few seconds passed by without anyone entering the room then another male armed with a pistol entered looking exactly to where I had been. With the opportunity before me I stepped up to stab him in the neck as I had with the other mercenary. With unexpected speed the man whipped around to face me. My knife plunged deep into a shoulder forcing the grizzled male to wince heavily and for his frame to follow the flow of impact.

"Shit!" The grizzled male cursed tightening the grip on his pistol rather than dropping it.

With a growl I took out the knife with the left hand seconds before my right fist hammered into his face. Blood exploded from his nose where my fist had landed. His head went back hard form the hit but came back quickly as the hand holding the pistol rose. On reflex I side stepped moments before the pistol discharged a short three round burst. I heard the bullets burrow deep into the wall behind me. A slight chill ran down my spine at the sound of them, but ignoring that I slashed at a wrist. I watched him try to move back only to have blood gush from the wound as the weapon left his right hand. With speed I stabbed the weapon into his gut then turned grabbing the pistol with my right hand. The pistol barked releasing two bullets.

Shock lit up the man's face as he stumbled back. I punched the male with my left hand effectively shoving him back. With distance between us I pulled the trigger three more times, putting a bullet into the head and the other two about where the heart would be. The corpse fell backwards at the same time a blur moved into the room. Following that and taking a sniff of the air I knew who it was. The bastard who ran these labs was quick for sure, but I could follow his movements. Time seemed to slow down as I focused waiting for the right moment to use the pistol. Several long seconds passed then I saw it, letting the weapon in my right hand bark four times.

Annoyed grunting sounded three times with blood splatting onto the floor. However I could hear the last shot miss my target to burrow into the far wall. A hand gripped hard on my right wrist so I let go willingly knowing that the pistol would not be of much use. I turned pulling back at the same time forcing the Grimmblood to close the distance between us as he still held my wrist. Moments later I rammed my left hand, blade first, into his chest once getting an oof in response. Quickly I pulled back then went for his wrist. The hand that came for my blade armed one was too slow to stop the knife from plunging to the hilt. Blood splashed from the impact dotting my naked form with more of it. He let go with a yell of pain.

Electricity crackled in the air at my location without warning. Pain rippled through my sore nerves at a dull level. It hurt though I could ignore it in favor of attacking this bastard. The Grimmblood's eyes raged with anger like a molten furnace or boiling lava. Moving quickly I caught a right handed punch with a lot of power behind it. I growled at the force but held my ground. I tossed the knife behind me catching it with my tail, though it probably wasn't the best of ideas. With my other hand free I grabbed his trapped arm then violently pulled him to me again. My right shoulder slammed into his chest and catching some of his throat if the sound of coughing up was anything to go by. With the Grimmblood trying to get air back into his throat I shifted back a step then unleashed a barrage of punches. Channeling the pain I felt into my anger my fists hammered relentlessly into him. I heard bones cracking and flesh beaten into submission, but I kept up the barrage focusing on inflicting as much damage as possible.

Something faint sounded near me but I paid it no mind seeing blood splatter out of the Grimmblood's mouth. Fire erupted into existence at my feet scorching flesh and a yelp of pain escaped my lips. I turned around to see another mercenary in armor, but this was tan colored. Along the armor I could see some form of tribal patterns of various colors from red to deep blue. At the shifting of his body I also changed position taking a step to the left. Fire erupted again where I had been standing. The heat licked at my skin painfully, more so than the electricity had done earlier. Again anger boiled in my blood. Rage at the pain I had suffered at their hands for experiments. Harnessing that I threw a fast punch at the newcomer. Flames blazed into partial existence around my left hand that hammered into the surprised face of a middle aged man with tar black hair. He went flying from the force crashing through the nearby wall.

My ears flicked at the sound of movement. I ducked on impulse moments before a fire encased leg went through the air where I had been. With the opportunity I tried to stab the Grimmblood only for him to vanish from sight. I heard the mercenary get up and move towards me at a sprint. With that I charged at him once again feeling the soreness of my body. At first I strafed left then right watching as he matched those movements. Seeing one of the dead bodies in my path I grabbed it and chucked the sack of flesh at the mercenary. At the same time I leaned back to slide on the floor under him. I watched as he grabbed the thrown body and threw it to the side. The look of confusion was priceless as I slid under him delivering a metal chain aided punch to the groin at the same time the knife sliced the inside of a leg. I heard the armor crack from the impact.

A shriek left his mouth when I slid to a stop behind the mercenary. Feeling heat I rolled to the side avoiding a flame covered fist and letting go of the knife from my tail. The flames were hot enough to scorch the stone floor and burn some of my tail fur. My nose twitched at the horrid smell, but I rolled again to the side avoiding another burst of fire. Feeling a wall with one foot I pushed myself forward then pushed myself up. An armored leg and boot rammed into the side of my ribs before I could get all the way up with one or two audible cracks. I cried out as I went up into the air and some distance away from where I had been. I tried to breath only to feel the need to cough. Blood came out in thick splotches several times as I tried to get air in my lungs.

A boot touched my ribs then applied some force, turning me over. I glared at the two men as one walked around to be on the other side of me. "I told you she was dangerous." The middle aged male commented as I felt a boot rest on one of my wrists.

"Yes." The other commented with a grin. He stood to my left while the mercenary stood on the right. "That's what made her good for the experiments. However it is time to teach her a lesson." He said then a boot crashed into my face.

Some time later I opened my eyes to find the Grimmblood I had stabbed with a bandage over the wound and next to an bound Grendel. His face had partially recovered but still looked battered from earlier with bruises here and there. Another bandage was over a part of his chest, likely where I ad stabbed him earlier. My Grimm was bloodied and bruised but this close I could faintly feel his will to endure. His clothing was a pair of jeans and a blood stained gray t-shirt.

 _"That Beowolf endured thanks to the strength of your own will."_ A voice echoed in my mind and my eyes went wide at it. The voice was oddly familiar, then an image materialized in my mind of the cat Grimm I had met days ago in my cell. " _Help is on the way Mistress, hold on."_ The voice added then went silent.

"Eve." Grendel spoke drawing my attention as well as the Grimmblood who honestly looked surprised. I heard him clearly though I could tell his voice was strained from constant use.

"None of the other Grimm Tamers here had their Grimms able to speak, yet yours does." The man commented with his right hand twitching a little. That hand quickly closed to a fist before a tiny streak of blood flowed down from the bandaged wrist. "I've hunted many of your kind over the centuries. However none of them compare to you." He added turning to point at me with a finger.

I tried to move my arms only to hear the jingle of thick metal chains. However My legs felt unrestrained so I tried standing. Muscles made their protest known at the movement. Ignoring that I began to stand only for a circular shape of cold metal to poke the back of my neck. Fuck! There was more security than last time I was wake in that test chamber. Focusing my attention back to the man before me I saw him pet the mask of _my_ Grimm.

"I guess the reason they were never a challenge is because they weren't like us." The Grimmblood said as if he was remembering moments from the past. Given the fact he said centuries before he was very old. That distant look did not last long as he composed himself.

"like us?" I asked feeling sore all over from experiments and the previous bout of combat. The cold metal of the chains came up to nearly my elbow unlike the last time that was only connected to my wrists.

"Exactly." He said with some tone I couldn't quite place. "To give you some information both of us are 'Wildcards'." He finished with a grin.

"What does that mean?" I spoke trying to tug my arms apart, though the chains resisted easily. There was little movement overall and a wall where the length of chain stopped to allow movement.

The grin didn't falter, but got bigger. "Wildcards have mastery over all forms of elements, while the others only have mastery and ability with certain elements like fire or ice." He explained. "Our only real limitations are the amount of power we can command and imagination."

"So we are above the rest?" I asked out of curiosity and for general information. It was enlightening to discover my ability for the various elements was something special.

"In a sense." The man admitted with a shrug shifting to a neutral expression. "That aside it is time to teach you a lesson about Tamed Grimms."

The air stood still around him for some time while my eyes felt glued to his form. Then one arm raced for Grendel piercing him through the chest, a spear of energy clearly visible out the other side of the Grimm. Eyes went wide at the exact moment pain exploded violently in my own chest. Blood came up in volume forcing me to spit it out with ragged coughs.

The man let out a dark laugh much like the ones I heard before when he tortured me. That psychotic gleam in his eyes shined with brilliance as I stared at him. "When not protected properly killing a Tamed Grimm will harm the Tamer!" He said letting out another laugh.

Shock held my form while my eyes shifted to Grendel. Tears ran down my face at the unmoving form who was limp within the chains that bound his form. A sob escaped my lips at the same time I let my head hang. Pain unlike what I had felt before burned within me, almost as if a part of my heart had been gouged out with a salt coated blade. I shuddered doing my best to keep from openly weeping. The battle to do so was a losing one with tears flowing more freely, but I felt a spark of sorts. Almost buried under the pain was the fires of anger. Anger at this bastard for experimenting on me and for taking away something important.

I bit my lip focusing on that. Flesh stung with the force while I held my eyes closed. It wasn't long before the embers I saw before me in the void of black erupted into an inferno. I held up my right arm in front of me then closing the hand into a fist. The flames funneled to me giving me the sense of power that had been absent for some time.

 _These bastards will know the flames of my rage!_ I thought opening my eyes and pulling on my arms. The chains resisted as expected, but I heard something shift in them. I got to my feet slowly haring the chains binding my arms strain and crack. I shifted my eyes to glare at the Grimmblood. He was looking at me shocked and the scent of fear faintly wafted from his general area. "You killed Grendel..." I hissed continuing to pull my arms apart. "Now...you will pay the price!" I roared with the chains finally shattering and power flowing through me. There was so much that immediately my body glowed orange in color.

"That shouldn't be possible!" The man behind me shouted with a clear tone of fear.

The Grimmblood took several steps back before I went for him. The distance between us was closed within a moment or two. Shifting my whole body I punched with the left fist covered in raging fire and sparking with electricity. A shock wave erupted outward from the point of impact kicking up bits of concrete and dust. The Grimmblood went flying away from me crashing through several walls. Blood trailed the path he had taken with some of that having landed on me. His eyes showed a heavy dose of surprise.

"You bitch." The Grimmblood muttered vanishing.

I clenched my right hand into a fist calling forth more fire to encase my form. "You can run, but you can't hide from me!" I growled walking into the open area that had been revealed thanks to hitting that bastard through multiple walls. The clicks of metal reached my ears letting me know that weapons were getting readied. After that was the pounding of boots on the move at speed. Turning to the right let me see a massive cavern with catwalks going to somewhere near the top. Along the floor I could see lines of concrete boxes that looked the same as the one I walked out of. Crates of glowing crystals sat in various places either glowing pale green or a vibrant blue. Several chained off areas held captive Grimm that all had their attention on me.

Holding one hand up a large ball of fire formed waiting to be unleashed. Down the lane or isle I stood in came a group of mercenaries. The fools were tightly packed and running in a straight line. I shifted getting ready to shove my hand forward, so it would launch the orb of fire at them. The front one reached for the weapon hanging by his waist and I shoved my hand forward. With a slight trail behind it the ball of fire surged on taking only about ten seconds before it hit. Once it made contact with one of the mercs it exploded violently showing the area with bits of fire. That was not all as another explosion rocked the cavern from something. Screams of dying people filled the echoing air then a rocket launched. I watched it go from the smoke of the burning men to around the top of the cavern. The rocket raced to and exploded once it hit the highest part of the catwalks I could see from the cavern floor.

"For fuck sake!" I groaned face palming hearing metal fall to the ground. Now I was going to have to find another way up so I could hunt down that Grimmblood and kill him.

OooOoOoOoOoOoOo

"What did you find out about Marlow Compact Abraham?" Raysel spoke walking directly behind the creature who had teleported into the dorm room of RWBY. Stranger than that the creature mentioned that the one they were looking for needed help. With a lot of haste JNPR and ERIN had been crammed into RWBY's dorm room to hear out the creature. It had claimed to escape from a lab where it was created within the city, and was mentally connected to its "Mistress", whomever that truthfully was.

A drone roughly the shape of a short rectangular box hovered in the air just behind the Grimmblood of the Beacon students. Attached to the front of it was a small roundish protrusion that functioned as the drone's head. From the end of it was a steadily glowing blue light that was more or less the eyes of it letting Raysel's older brother see what it saw. Folded to either side were arms with a number of small attachments. "First off that group is large with a lot of money, able to be one of the few competitors of the Scnhee Dust Company. They have many research labs for pharmaceuticals and for studying Grimm."

"I remember my mother saying something about them." Nolan said with the drone floating around a pipe extending from the side cutting off the path a little in the sewers. Without sound the drone made a full turn to the blue haired male. "My mother has had a number of court cases dealing with them and possible illegal activity. However she nor others have been able to figure out what they might have done with how secretive Marlow Compact is." They turned another corner in the sewer with Ren slipping on something. The black haired male nearly dropped into the murky and eerily still water. The thing that save him was one of Nolan's hands having grabbed an arm above the elbow.

"Thanks." Ren said with a nod fixing his footing. Shortly after Nolan let go.

Nolan honestly did not like the dim lighting of the sewers. It made it too easy for things to hide from the majority of the group's eyes, save for the two Faunus and the Grimmblood. Then there was the water that was _too_ still. "They are know to be the only group to have detailed notes on some forms of Grimm as well as research into Conduit powers."

The drone let out a electric chirp. "Correct, and there is something else." A pause ensued with the group moving to wherever the feline Grimm was leading them. "Marlow Compact has ownership of what remained of Merlot Industries that had their main headquarters located in Mountain Glenn before the fall of that settlement. Marlow Compact has been known to lease out their labs to whomever wishes to use them if they meet their not so cheap prices."

"Can we really trust this...Grimm?" Weiss groaned walking carefully along the pathway in the sewers her group traveled down led by a eight legged feline. The sewers reeked of stale filth. The snow white eyes of the heiress once again noted the clear amount of grime and dirt on most surfaces around them, even the walkway to an extent.

"What choice do we have?" Yang grunted not exactly thrilled with going through a sewer like the rest of her team. However it if got them to where they could help or even save Eve then it was worth it. "This thing knows where Eve is."

"The Grimm isn't lying Miss Schnee." Abraham's drone said. "I've found video footage of Eve inside of the laboratory we are approaching."

Weiss glared at the hovering drone before trying to swat at it. The machine was quite agile moving out of the way long before her hand could have touched it. A part of the heiress knew the Grimm wasn't lying. But how ridiculous would it sound for her of all people to say she could trust a Grimm? Then again the heiress _did_ trust Eve, a being who could tame Creatures of Grimm. Dismissing that train of thought she followed along until she bumped right into Raysel. "What is it?" She asked with a huff having managed not to fall over to the ground with some effort.

"A secret entrance is here." The Grimm spoke turning to face the group it had led into the sewers.

Yang looked skeptically at the wall before the feline Grimm. "I only see a wall."

The feline Grimm snorted holding up one paw aimed backwards at the wall behind it. Seconds later a blast of quiet energy roared forth from that paw cutting through stone and metal with ease. "Mistress is inside these labs." It added walking through the freshly made hole.

"Damn..." Yang commented with a drawl before shaking her head to follow the unusual Grimm with Raysel.

Pyrrha felt a sense of nervousness once again in her stomach. A feeling that gave her a sense of impending chaos. Ignoring that she took a step forward only to catch Jaune standing still to her left. "Jaune? What's wrong?" She said turning to face the blond knight. At that moment she heard the others turn the corner, though Nolan gave her a sparing glance.

He refused to look her in the eyes, keeping his own down to the floor. "I'm afraid."

Pyrrha tilted her head to the side slightly with an eyebrow rising. "Afraid?"

Jaune clenched his right hand to the point is started shaking a little. "What if we get all the way to her only to find out that Eve is dead? Or that the Grimm leading us is really only doing so to get us killed?"

Phyyra's chest tightened seeing her friend so distraught. The what ifs were really starting to take their toll after so long. She knew it wouldn't be easy and the same doubts plagued her mind. Ever since the time she had started interacting with Team ERIN she had felt normal again, a feeling she hadn't had in years. Her interest in the Conduit had begun when hearing about the story of her and Team ERIN killing a young dragon. Few Huntsmen could pull that stunt yet Eve had done so as a prospective student for Beacon Academy. Then it surprised her to find out that Eve really came from another world, reborn into this one. She remembered the pain within the Conduits voice and beautiful bright sky blue eyes. That made her desire for the Conduit increase ever more. Regardless of the few months she had known Eve she wanted to be with the Grimm Tamer.

Focusing back to Jaune the Mystral champion put a gentle hand on the blond's shoulder. This time he looked up to her eyes. "It will work out Jaune." She said mustering as much confidence and soothing tone she could muster, complete with a smile. "She is alive."

He stared into her green eyes for a time then took a deep breath. He let it out slowly with closed eyes appearing more calm. "Right." He said then moved to catch up to the others. Pyrrha followed after the blond knight catching up to the others who were gathered around a closed door. Near the top was an small open rectangle with bars through it.

"Mistr-" The Grimm started speaking only for a ground shaking boom to interrupt it.

"WHAT WAS THAT!?" Ruby shouted falling to the floor in a heap. The others managed to use the wall to not fall over, while Raysel and Blake stayed upright without issues.

Silence reigned then a series of booms echoed from somewhere within each followed by a shock wave. Then one final boom sounded far closer than the others with an equally more powerful shake of the area.

Seconds passed before a hazard light started flashing red and yellow. At the same time shouts and plenty of noise made it past the door the group stood next to. It was easy for even those without sensitive hearing to catch the words spoken by those who ran by the door.

"That Conduit the Major brought in has broken free of her chains!" One of the many male voices roared to be heard over the volume of noise.

"How the fuck is that possible?!" Another voice shouted, this time clearly female.

"Hell if I know!" Another male voice yelled back. "All we know is that she broke the chains that are supposed to cancel out Conduit abilities!"

"Get a move on! The Conduit is free and extremely dangerous!" The first booming male voice sounded again. "Full combat load is authorized!."

Raysel narrowed her eyes letting a low growl out that only Blake heard. The cat Fuanus herself didn't like the sound of that. Mercenaries in a full combat load were more or less the same as a regular soldier of an army from the Kingdoms. What the hell were mercenaries that armed doing inside a laboratory such as this one inside the city of Vale? Better yet, who was supplying them with that kind of equipment?

Pyrrha let a gasp escape her lips as the words sunk in. _Full combat load._ The words echoed in her head with a great sense of dread. Fear claimed her guts as mental images of a bloodied and dead Conduit played within her head. One riddled with bullet holes and missing a limb or two. _They're going to kill her._ Her mind added against her will.

"Mistress freed herself, but we can still help her." The Grimm spoke punching the door with one paw. It flew off the hinges slamming into the wall with a crimson splatter behind it.

"What the fuck?!" A man shouted roughly pointing the gun he held in the direction of the cat like Grimm.

The Grimm took in a deep breath then exhaled unleashing a cloud of flames that blanketed the hallway in front of it. The fire was hot enough to warrent the others behind it to shield their eyes. Following that was a wall of ice that closed in from all four sides. It sealed off the hallway from further use, unless the mercenaries broke through it. "We need to go down to find her." It said going to the other end of the hallway. They followed after the Grimm feeling a sense of urgency within them. It was only a matter of time until the mercenaries starting fighting Eve in mass. They traveled down to a door then past it to a large open hallway.

This one held dents from claw marks new and old from large creatures. Along the wall above several doors was a plaque reading "Grimm Experimentation Room".

"They're experimenting on Grimm?!" Jaune spoke with shock with eyes glued to the door the drone hovered in front of.

"Why wouldn't they?" The floating drone spoke, a sigh escaped its speaker. "No laws cover Grimm and those creatures are the enemies of humanity and the Faunus. They are the ideal test subjects for what could kill them, however..." It paused moving to hover at the open slot to see within the room. Inside the room stood a Beowolf of large size with plenty of glowing crystals sticking out from its body. Each of those glowed a vibrant blue with tiny wisps of energy coming off of them. A tiny extension came out of the drone for a few seconds then retracted back inside the head. It floated back with a jolt as if mimicking surprise. "They're making tamed Grimms!"

"How?" Raysel said shifting to her Beowolf form. Her eyes became glued to the drone with them as the little machine moved to hover before her snout.

The blue light in the front of the drone flashed repeatedly for a short time then glowed steadily. "I do not know how they did it, but whoever runs this place managed to make Dust crystals infused with the power of a Grimm Tamer."

Raysel tilted her head with ears flicking at the muffled sounds of combat. Another thundering roar shook the floor and jostled the hinges of the metal door to the Grimm's cell. With a shift of her feet she stayed standing but the clang of armor let her know at least one did not. Glancing over a shoulder her eyes spotted Jaune on his back on the floor. "Where are those tremors coming from?" She said turning her attention back to her older brother's drone.

"Down below." The drone supplied. A few seconds passed with the little light flickering again. "Conduit energy readings are off the charts!" Abraham supplied with awe. "There are two powerful sources of energy within this building. One of them matches the energy signature of Eve as well as the crystals sticking out of the Grimm in this room. The other is unknown and moving through the building towards the top."

"Run all you want, but you won't escape me torturer!" Eve's voice boomed with furious venom from somewhere deeper within the complex.

"Did you hear that?" Blake spoke up pulling Jaune to his feet. Seeing the others, minus Raysel, shake their head she sighed. "Eve is the one causing the tremors we are feeling."

"We need to get to her." Jaune said drawing everyone's attention. His eyes locked onto the door ahead of him that contained the mentioned Grimm. "Abraham." He paused with the floating drone turning the glowing blue light to him. "Can you tell if that Grimm will follow anyone's commands?" The light functioning as the drone's eye flickered as processes ran to answer Jaune's query. While the machine took its time to go through the possible answers the blond knight felt his mind race through thoughts. If the Grimm would listen to anyone's commands then it would make an excellent addition to the already formidable fighting force that his group consisted of. Even if it didn't setting it free might wreak havoc on the people who ran these labs, or it would just attack them. If the Grimm did listen to commands but required a not so human individual to obey there was Raysel to fill that role. However the wild card among the group was the eight legged feline Grimm that had led them here in the first place. That Grimm's goals were totally unknown. Though if he had to guess from its earlier conversation with the teams this Grimm was a servant of Eve.

"Unfortunately I cannot tell if that Grimm will listen to a normal person, a Grimmblood, or the Grimm Tamer whose power radiates from those crystals." The drone replied after a time dropping down almost a foot then bounced back up as if to imitate a shrug.

Jaune nodded turning his eyes back to the door of a cell holding a modified Grimm. There was plenty of risk for trying to control such a creature. There was no way to tell if the Grimm would have access to any of the powers of a Conduit with those crystals jetting out of it. He narrowed his eyes as if the door might shrink away under his gaze. _There is a great risk in what we are doing right now. As much if not more so than attempting to use that altered Grimm._ He thought turning to look at his fellow blond. "Yang, I want you to try and pry that door open." He said getting a grin from the brawler who wasted little time getting to work. With a determined expression he turned to face the taller blue haired male with them. "I want you to try and get the Grimm to follow your orders. If that doesn't work I want Raysel to try and control it."

Nolan nodded. "Will do." He replied right before metal tore accompanied by a grunt. Seconds later a thud sounded from the door hitting the floor. The tall athletic male entered the holding cell with caution. Even as a human he could faintly feel the energy that came off the Grimm in a steady flow. Slowly he approached the stationary Beowolf that had the armor plating to display that it could be an alpha, though he got the feeling that it was too young for that. The hairs on the back of Nolan's neck stood up as instincts warned him that approaching was not wise. Ignoring that he stepped closer with the Grimm finally taking notice of his presence. Once it did Nolan stopped going toward it, thankfully with a meter and a half between them.

The altered Beowolf's head slowly looked up and down Nolan who stood still in a position to fight and or run if need be. With a few sniffs the Grimm could tell this human wasn't afraid of it, but cautious. Few of those creatures would willingly approach a Grimm unless they aimed to kill it. However something suppressed the urge to lung and kill the human, saying that he could be trusted. Along with that feeling was the power from whatever had been done to it. The Grimm slowly closed the distance. One large paw reached out slowly until some fifteen seconds later rested lightly on top of Nolan's head to ruffle his hair.

Nolan resisted the urge to grin and patted the paw on his head three times. "If you will help us, follow me." With that Nolan carefully took the paw off his head and left the holding cell. Two steps behind him the altered Beowolf followed watching the male human before it. Nolan flashed a thumbs up to Jaune who sighed with relief.

That was short lived as the door before the group burst open with several armed mercenaries. Each of them had visible faces of fear and weapons within their hands. It wasn't long before surprise took to the faces of the four men in form fitting battle armor.

One of the men squinted his eyes then realization hit his face. "Oh fuck! That's Basilisk!" He began shifting the rifle within his arms up. A moment later the feline Grimm was on the man's form with clawed fingers tearing into flesh. Blood splashed and a gurgling sound could be heard as the mercenary fell down. The other three stood shocked giving the feline Grimm plenty of time to get to its next target. With a swipe of two front left paws a scream of pain erupted from the man's throat as he fell. Hands clutched the maimed leg that bled profusely from deep slices at the thighs.

"Die." An echoing growl came forth from the much larger Grimm with the group of intruders. In the blink of an eye the altered Beowolf swiped at one of the two still standing while claws glowed a brilliant orange. With horrifying ease the Beowolf's claws cut clean through the mercenary and his armor. The broken body fell to the floor in burnt and wet red pieces. The last man standing tried to scream only for it to be cut very short with the feline Grimm biting into his throat, and tearing it out.

The Beacon students swallowed hard at the gruesome scene before them. Jaune in particular appeared the most troubled while Blake seemed much calmer. Despite that the blond knight composed himself with some effort. He walked past the dead mercenaries ignoring the slight slippery feeling from the blood on the floor under his shoes. Down that doorway was another hallway that ended with an opening to a large room. They needed to move further into this den of horrors if they were going to find the Conduit.

OoOoOoOoOoOo

Bullets whizzed by me dangerously close, though I paid them no attention. Fury resonated within my mind and these bastards would pay in blood. The repeated click of a trigger let me know the woman ahead of me was out of ammunition for her current weapon. That empty magazine dropped from the weapon and one hand reached for another at her waist. Before that hand could reach a pouch I closed the distance grabbing it roughly. Without hesitation I twisted the arm backwards hearing an audible crack as the joint was dislocated despite the armor resisting the movement briefly. A scream tore out of her throat as I let go of the arm. She took several steps back from me with the scent of fear. Closing a hand around thin air a gleaming sword of ice materialized ready to slice and dice. I slashed down from the left to the right leaving icy spikes in the trail of the weapon's edge.

Another scream came out of her mouth though it was duller than the previous one. Following up the first slice I moved my arms as a blur focusing on cutting my target to ribbons. After some time I stopped seeing the head roll off the sliced body. Even looking over the dead mercenary to add to the several dozen I had already killed my rage was not quenched. Gripping the icy handle tighter in the left hand I moved on. Down the next corridors I lined the walls with blood from the mercenaries severing limbs with cold calm. I sopped at a four way intersection letting go of the sword, letting it vanish. Pain flared in my chest making me close my eyes and cough spitting out more fluid. Blood dripped down my chin and directly below me was a medium sized pool of it.

"Fuck." I cursed coughing feeling a bit more blood come up my throat. A hand went to the left breast about where my heart was and squeezed in a vain attempt to lesson the pain. That was not the only pain I felt with eyes glancing over my form. Blood from many others mostly covered me and some from myself. However many minor bullet wounds as well as slices from meele weapons or shrapnel covered my still unclothed form. At this point I was more worried about surviving and killing that Grimmblood than being naked.

"Kill the bitch!" A male voice growled to my left. Following that was the click of a trigger and a hail of bullets. Glaring at the man a barrier of visible light blue energy materialized before me. That stopped the bullets from harming me, with most of them turning into dust. There were some that stayed relatively intact from the spray. Weaving a hand up as if to do an underhand toss the used bullets floated up. After they all left the ground I used a mental push to catapult them at the man whom shot me. They each buried into the armor the mercenaries wore. That armor was effective at protecting them from standard bullets, however it couldn't hold up well to power infused melee attacks. From the force alone the man stumbled back several steps. I reached out a hand feeling a phantom extension go further than the actual limb to grab the man. Using my mind I controlled the phantom hand to lift the mercenary off the ground and squeeze him.

The man struggled in vain to get free of the invisible hold I had over him. "You will die like the others who have gotten in my way to your Grimmblood leader." I said with icy calm to my voice that scared the hell out of him even more than the invisible hand holding him. With that the struggle got more desperate with him trying to force his arms out, and I felt that in my left hand that was pointed at him. A growl echoed form my throat at the same time I closed that hand into a tight fist. The effect was immediate as the man turned into red paste mixed with thoroughly crushed armor. Closing my eyes for a brief time I grit my teeth feeling a sore spot at my left shoulder. Blood trickled down from an open wound that I had acquired at some point, but how?

Sensing something coming for me I crouched low to the ground keeping the right hand free as well as turning around. Before my eyes was the other man whom had subdued me with the Grimmblood I hunted. One hand was held out towards me as a fist with cold air hovering near his form. I could tell the man was dangerous just by the subtitles of his scent, of which told me that he was indeed human. This time I saw the markings along the majority of the armor more clearly. One on the held up palm glowed an steady icy blue. It reminded me of Weiss's glyphs when she was using her family semblence and not a time or gravity manipulating one.

"You are quite the fighter little do-" He said then I teleported to point blank range with a upwards punch packed with energy. The impact was explosive with a force erupting outwards in a sphere shape breaking walls with ease. The dangerous black haired mercenary went through floors until he was out of sight. With a crouching jump I made up to the top of the hole I made using him. Glowing red eyes littered the massive room separated by equally glowing barriers of green energy. I could feel the essence of every single Grimm within the space whom were all focused on me.

My ears twitched to the sound of movement so I teleported a short distance away. One leg come down for a chop kick that sent out an explosion of force that threw up chunks of concrete. Flicking one hand out fire shot at him only to be disarmed by a frigid blast of cold air. A bolt of lightning burst through the cloud of cold air dispersing it. Letting power once again roll off my form I batted it aside. It went to my left striking a computer terminal of some sort. That exploded into brilliant orange fire. I directed it to me encasing my form with it. He charged at me with a purple mark on his armor glowing. my eyes widened with the mercenary vanishing from sight, only for a kick to connect to my back. The force catapulted me across the room to one of pens the Grimm had been kept in. However the green barriers had disappeared since the terminal had either been the power source or the control mechanism for it.

The roar of a large creature and the spiky white and black form let me know the cage I had landed in was that of an Ursa Major's. Ducking under the paw thrust of the Grimm I grabbed the arm using the beast's momentum to help me throw it. With a yell I added my own strength tot he throw sending it flying at the mercenary. I saw him narrow hazel eyes at the quickly approaching creature of nightmare. I watched him charge forwards a bit to hammer a kick into the jaw of the Ursa Major severing the creatures head with an explosion of force. When that occurred I caught sight of the purple pattern still glowing.

That had to correspond to an element. But which one was it? A small group of Beowolves charged at the mercenary intent on shredding the human before them. However the black haired male disappeared, though this time I saw a blur of movement. There was no hesitation in the strikes that shattered the masks of Beowolves or entirely destroyed their forms. At the same time the purple marking glowed the entire time he dispatched them. Then my mind flashed to a particular episode of Fairy Tail, one with a purple haired swordswoman. _The purple mark represents gravity!_ I grinned altering how gravity effected me loosing the flames around my form for a slight purple outline. I prepared to sprint as he was distracted by the Grimm near him. With a push of my right foot I surged forward easily getting close to him.

"Hey asshole!" I called slamming a gravity enhanced punch into his gut watching as blood came out in a large splotch. The impact was powerful enough to create a crater at impact, and send him clear to the other end of the room. At hitting the wall it crumbled on top of him revealing more holding pens that were empty. I took a deep breath then focused power towards my mouth. Following that I let out a roar that sounded very much like the dragon I had killed a few months ago during Initiation for Beacon. The room thundered echoing with the roar that had the Grimm present look to me. All of them changed a bit gaining a blue glow were red was previously, including their eyes. I pointed at the mercenary staring at me with surprise evident as the Grimm grouped up near me. "Kill that human!"

As a horde most of the Grimm from the room I had tamed charged at the mercenary. I could feel that their aim was to over whelm him with numbers. The other part of the mix of Grimm types stayed close to me. They were mostly Beowolves I would assume for their agility as well as their senses of smell and hearing. Another large presence in the mix of previous captive Grimm was Ursi and several Ursa Majors. To finish off the horde that was tamed two Deathstalkers charged slower than the rest to the human mercenary. I took a step closer to the human in the distance going through the Grimm with experience, then my vision briefly got fuzzy. I fell forward but felt claws catch me. One of those claw tips touched an open, but not bleeding wound. I cried out a little then felt the searing pain in my chest again. Blood dropped onto the floor from my mouth.

 _"Alpha is vulnerable."_ A voice in my head spoke, though it wasn't the one from earlier. With vision clearing up quickly I turned to see the Beowolf holding me up with a paw. It righted me then two more paws touched my form. The blue lines of their bone-plates glowed brighter before they slowly turned into blue-black smoke. At the same time I felt something growing over my skin. Looking down I saw the same bone-plates the Grimm had growing over my otherwise naked form. The bone-plates covered most of my body in sections that left joints able to move. However I felt that the bone-plates did not directly cover my crotch, but some of the area around there. It also did not cover a portion of my torso leaving the stomach exposed and some of my back. At least the armor was better then being totally naked. Once again the purple glow outlined my form then to my surprise the Beowolves to my left generated a cloud of fire while those opposite them generated cold air.

A pained screech pulled my attention to the sound. One of the two Deathstalkers flailed about missing a good section of the tail and the top armor cracked badly. Blackish blood flowed down the Grimm's form from the broken carapace. The mercenary landed a short distance away from that Grimm keeping his attention on it. A fist punched into the floor with one of the marks near it glowing a bright icy blue. Moments later a giant spike of ice erupted up from the floor impaling the giant scorpion, killing it. One of the flaming Beowolves charged in moving faster than I expected slashing at the mercenary.

A grunt sounded from the man who blocked the strike with a beam of earth between his hands. Without warning the man vanished in a golden flash of light appearing a distance away from the fiery Beowolf. One of the arms came off so it let out a howl of pain turning to face the mercenary. I sprinted to the injured Grimm planning to block his next attack. Seconds after got in front of the Beowolf a foot came for my head. I grabbed the boot with my right hand feeling the force behind the attack to flow out from me harmlessly.

I smirked holding the boot securely in my right hand. "Nice patterns on your tan armor." I said with a pause ensuing as his hazel eyes narrowed on mine. I saw the last living Deathstalker moving up behind the human. He tugged at the boot, but I kept it in place. Once the Grimm was close enough I let go spinning the human at the same time. A few seconds passed then the left pincer slammed into the mercenary's side. Armor let out a slight crunch of at least a dent at the same time my ears picked up the breaking of bone. " _Hit him back to me."_ I commanded seeing an Ursa Major shifting some steps to its right. Then the bear Grimm closed one paw as if to mimic a fist, and attacked the air born human. The force behind that strike was enough to break some parts of the floor that flew up.

I crouched keeping keen eyes on the mercenary. Once close enough I back flipped channeling power to the left leg that connected with body armor. Another concussive blast went out and the mercenary was catapulted upwards. He hit the ceiling hard then fell back down. Metal groaned and tore somewhere behind me. glancing over a shoulder the Deathstalker held within one large pincer a metal beam almost as if the giant bug wanted to bat something. I jumped back out of range of the metal beam it had just before the Grimm swung it. However the beam of metal hit something hard that broke off a chunk of it. Teleporting to the top of the Deathstalker's carapace saved me from getting impaled by the broken off section.

A look of anger was in the bright yellow eyes of my torturer. "Run Striker. I will handle the wolf Conduit." At that the armored mercenary got up coughing a few times then sprinted away behind the Grimmblood.

Neither of us moved for some time then the Deathstalker moved throwing the remaining bit of metal it had grabbed. Following that I leaped off the bug Grimm and charged in. The Grimmblood side stepped the metal projectile before it could hit him. Moments alter I was there hammering a punch to his side that sent him flying. With a excited chitter the Deathstalker prepared to hit him with a pincer. However to my shock the yellow eyed male teleported above the large Grimm throwing both arms down as if to pull a rope of some sort over his shoulders. Seconds later sections of ceiling fell down onto the Deathstalker with force cracking the carapace, then one large chunk of metal came down to stab through it. That killed the last large Grimm though the Ursi moved in next. They worked in pairs to attack the Grimmblood, doing better than I thought. He was able to keep parrying their claw strikes without much trouble. Then a blast of force threw off the first two. Following that a bow of ice formed in his hands and two arrows found their mark in the heads of two Ursa on their backs.

An icy arrow came for me be, but I batted that aside with the back of a hand. A bow of flames materialized in my my hands before bolts of fire aimed at the Grimmblood. He started moving around to doge the fire arrows as I did the same to him. Some of the projectiles hit the other causing small explosions with one of them taking out another three Ursa, leaving two normal ones left and three Ursa Majors. Orbs of fire shot racing to my enemy exploding when they hit something. Shortly joining them was stakes of razor sharp looking ice. I sensed them being launched from the Beowolves behind me. leaning out of the way of another icy arrow then firing at the next one I reshaped the fire in my hands. It took the form of a spear before I threw it where the Grimmblood was about to be.

A growl escaped his lips right as he raised a hand in front of where the spear was going to hit him in the shoulder. A counter force hit the fire spear detonating. Flames surged outwards blanketing the majority of the room and killing several more of my Grimm.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOo

Jaune looked back over a shoulder to his friends. Each of them looked to be a little troubled. However they pressed on following him and the two Grimms deeper into the den of horrors. Over time they had wandered through more areas with captive Grimm glowing with blue crystals sticking in their bodies. Then they had taken a path that brought them through what could only be an examination room. The room had been sizable and filled with medical tables that had stands for things like scalpels and other surgical tools. Each of those had old stains of blood as did the tables. A few of them even had corpses on them that were greatly disfigured. Those corpses, after an inspection from Abraham's drone, was clear detail of torture and experimentation. After that explanation Jaune had thrown up in a corner away from the group for the sake of the ones with acute senses of smell.

They ventured further into the building hearing sounds of combat at random times accompanied by a tremor or two. Now a large hallway big enough for an Ursa Major to walk through fine stood before the group going one way. Opposite that was another hallway of equal size, though debris from the higher floor blocked that path from use. With one option to go the blond knight went first followed by his friends. The feline Grimm quickly walked faster than the others to the room at the end. It entered without a care in the world briefly looking around soon joined by the altered Beowolf.

"Looks cozy." The feline Grimm commented before teleporting onto the cushions of a dark blue colored sofa. That sofa was one of several littered about the large room. Other cozy looking pieces of furniture were strewn about complete with coffee tables here and there.

Weiss' eyes scanned over the room taking note of what was in it, and naturally the price of said furniture. All of it was obviously good quality making each bit of furniture expensive. Her icy eyes stayed on the feline Grimm as it stretched to lay down over the length of the cushions, just as any normal feline might do. "Whoever these people are they have money. All of the furniture comes from the more expensive makers in Atlas."

"Atlas?" The altered Beowolf spoke tilting its head looking at Weiss. Silence reigned then the drone started chirping.

"Right on the mark." Abraham's drone said. "The scans of these do show that they come from a furniture supplier in Atlas."

"What do humans do when not working?" The feline Grimm spoke drawing attention, though it kept lazing on the cushions.

The drone turned to it. "Humans and Faunus relax in various places. Like this room as an example." A thundering boom sounded somewhere below the floor followed my more. One more deafened boom sounded before silence. That was short lived as a very inhuman roar echoed from below. Blake put hands over her cat ears at the same time they flattened and the two Grimms with the group stood at attention.

"What could roar like that?" Ren asked as the sound died, however his eyes were glued to the glowing forms of the two Grimms.

"That was like a dragon's roar." Nolan said scanning the room further. Besides the hallway they entered from the large break room, if it could be called that, was a single metal door with two buttons next to it. "I'd wager that was Eve roaring."

"Why?" Pyrrha said turning her eyes to the elevator. Without warning a pained screech filled the air drawing her attention to the floor.

Raysel's eyes also went to the floor before she knelt down. A hand was pressed flat against the laminated concrete. "I can clearly sense Eve's power below us. She likely used that roar to tame a large number of Grimm."

"I guess that makes sense." Blake grumbled with her ears feeling a little sore at the sheer volume the roar had. "How many did she tame?"

"A horde." The feline Grimm answered before the sound of booming blows sounded again in quick succession. After that was roars of Beowolves and Ursi and at the same time the glow around the two Grimms in the room died down. "They are fighting with Mistress." Just after finishing that a tremor shook the room with part of the floor dented up, launching an unsuspecting Yang into the air.

The blond brawler quickly recovered landing on her feet. "What was that?"

The feline Grimm walked over to the upwards dent in the floor placing one hand-paw on it. "Eve's opponent whom she kicked into the ceiling of the room below."

Blake flinched looking down hearing the loud sound of metal tearing accompanied by the screech of a Deathstalker. Another boom sounded far louder than the previous ones with the resounding crash of metal on metal. At the same time several howls of pain echoed from below, and all the students of Beacon had their eyes glued to the floor as if they would be able to see through it. Muffled explosions went off in rapid succession then the doors to the elevator let out a ding. Instantly they jumped switching attention to it.

Jaune's eyes scanned the room quickly taking in the furniture. Many of them were large enough for the humans to hide behind. His eyes next shifted to the two larger people. Both the altered Beowolf and Raysel, in her Beowolf form, were too big to hide behind any furniture. "Hide behind the furniture. Raysel and the Grimms will strike whoever exits the elevator." He spoke with the group getting into position.

The feline Grimm got ready to pounce with visible anticipation. The fur of the Grimm seemed to ripple back and forth and it was rocking back and forth a little on its eight legs. The altered Beowolf closed one paw like a hand only to have a large spear of ice materialize. It immediately got into a two handed position to use the conjured weapon, almost like it had mirrored one of Eve's staff stances. Raysel on the other hand encased herself with stone that matched her form with molten rock dripping from her clawed paws. Right as the door began to open they were busted out and catapulted into the room barely missing the stationary teens. With that came a roaring inferno with a form jumping out of it.

"Bloody hell!" A clearly male voice remarked from within the inferno as it died down. The man's armor bore obvious signs of battle damage in the form of dents and scorch marks. A number of places of the armor had slices missing from some form of edged weapon. Blood ran down one side of the man's face next to his left eye from a shallow cut on the forehead. "That Faunus might actually be a match for the Major."

The feline Grimm hissed drawing attention from the male. "We meet again Sargent Striker."

The male's eyes narrowed in annoyance at the Grimm. "Basilisk." He said then did a leg sweep around him. Along with that action a pale green pattern along the armor of one leg glowed summoning a rotating force of wind. With a series of yells the teenagers were thrown about the room along with the furniture. "So it was you who led these kids here."

With a grunt Raysel kept her feet then lunged for a swipe. The molten bits of rock were flung harmlessly from Sargent Striker, but the molten themselves hit. The mercenary's armor took the brunt of the wipe with sections coming off the right arm. Striker jumped back with the force then shoved an arm at the stone encased Grimmblood. Fire erupted at Raysel's feet at the same time an orange red mark glowed on the left arm near the shoulder. With a grunt Raysel moved through the flames stomping a foot down. Spikes of earth rose in a path to Sargent Striker.

A flash of light streaked from the path of spikes to another part of the room. That hit the floor before forming back into Sargent Striker who attacked Basilisk. The feline Grimm ducked under the kick then headbutted the mercenary in the chest. He stepped back with a grunt then slammed an elbow onto the feline Grimm. Basilisk grunted lightly at the heavy impact, though bone-plates on its back protected it from any real harm. Without warning a fist smashed into the back of Striker's head damaging his aura and with a shove from Basilisk the mercenary slammed into the wall near them.

"That guy has an insane amount of aura." Nolan commneted flexing the right hand that had impacted Striker's head. "However his isn't at full thanks to Eve."

Jaune looked at the blue haired male. "How do you know that?"

Nolan smirked. "Part of what my semblence can do."

Rubble shifted near the wall with Striker standing up dusting himself off. "So you're a Quester?" The mercenary's voice held distaste on the last word.

"What does his last name have to do with his semblence?"

"My family is one of those that have a power passed down from one generation to the next." Nolan said before his body gained a blue glow. The blue haired male closed his eyes before three tails materialized that held the shape of a fox. On his head fox ears also appeared and he opened eyes to show them with a cat like pupil and glowing blue as his hair.

"Vampire Fox." Striker said narrowing eyes at the young Quester. "An ability to steal the aura of others to empower yourself or give it to others if you choose."

Nolan grinned showing one wolf like k-9. He vanished only to appear behind the mercenary. A leg connected to the man's back sending him across the room. Immediately the altered Beowolf moved to the side waiting a few seconds before slamming one end of the ice spear into his torso, slamming the older male into the floor. Laminated tile broke into pieces at the impact but Striker got up fast. The ice spear raced for his head so he leaned out of the way of the sharp end only to have the altered Beowolf spin the weapon around to smack the other end against his leg. Taking the hit with a shift of feet Striker threw out a left hook at the altered Beowolf infusing it with fire, and a pattern on that arm glowed with it. The wolf Grimm yelped shoving the man back, but did not stop attacking him. Striker dodged the next few swings of the spear then snapped fingers watching an explosion of force knock the Beowolf away from him.

In the blink of an eye another took the previous ones place, though it was covered in stone that glowed like lava. he blocked one punch feeling the force behind it crack his battle armor just a bit more. However he palm struck the ConCain while said hand was channeling a cold wind. Immediately the molten glow stopped and she was sent into the wall next to the blown out elevator. Striker ducked sensing something faintly before Nolan's leg whooshed over his head. Going with the motion Nolan pulled up the other leg for a kick catching the older male in the jaw. A wave of a hand catapulted the blue haired male away from the mercenary with a burst of wind.

"Incoming." Basilisk said getting the rest of the teens attentions. Shortly after saying that the wall opposite of the elevator doors exploded forming a hole where a group of mercenaries stood. "Deal with them."

"Can I break their legs?" Nora asked enthusisatically pulling out her hammer. At the same time Ren got out his own weapons and Pyrrha aimed her rifle through a hole in her shield.

Jaune readied his shield before him gripping the handle of the blade for Crocea Mors. "Do it."

Nora squealed in joy before rushing up to the nearest mercenary to hit him. However a shotgun blast point blank launched the girl away from them. The others with that mercenary all had on helmets unlike the one behind Jaune's group fighting Nolan, Raysel, and the altered Beowolf. Nine weapons raised themselves to open a salvo of bullets. Without warning a wall of ice erupted from the ground blocking the shots. A quick glance behind him let Jaune see the blade of Weiss stabbed into the floor and a trail of ice from it to the wall.

"Shit!" Yang cursed barely getting out of the way of some projectile from the fight across the room that impacted the ice wall shattering it. Tiny shards of ice hit her and the others at the back of the room dealing no damage thanks to their Auras. With a flick of her wrists Ember Cecilia was ready for use. Wasting little time she fired off several rounds at the front most mercenaries.

One of the mercenaries stepped forward drawing out a short sword from his waist. The blade swiftly cut through the bullets before the blasts of fire vanished. "I'll handle that one, split up and get the others." With that he charged at Yang to start battling her while the other mercenaries split up to attack the teens separately. Without warning a bullet hammered into his midsection stopping the advance.

"You'll deal with the both of us!" Ruby proclaimed cocking another bullet into the chamber of her weapon in sniper form.

Given that distraction Yang shot a few more rounds at the mercenary, this time hitting home. The first three bullets impacted armor knocking the slim looking man back. Though the final two shots were slashed at by the sliver colored blade in the left hand. Her fists tightened along with her eyes changing to red. Hair glowed golden like the sun before the brawler shot herself at the mercenary. Said mercenary took a step back right before Yang's right fist was blocked by his weapon. The silver blade cracked under the force of the first blow, as he did not see the left hook coming for him. Once that fist landed the left gauntlet discharged a point blank shot. That man was sent violently back through the hole that his group had made. At the very least the mercenary was unconscious and without Aura for the time being, or he was simply dead.

"Scream for me!" Nora called swinging her hammer at the knees of two mercenaries standing too close to each other. The hammer hit home crashing into the legs of the two men violently. Screams echoed from their mouths as both went flying into the side wall towards the large hallway.

One of those mercenaries hit by Nora clipped a limb on the one in front of Jaune stumbling the woman. Taking the opportunity the blond knight charged at her bashing with his shield. A surprised grunt left her mouth before the blade in his right hand came slicing down, cutting Aura and the battle armor. A thin line of blood trailed the tip of the blade, but he wasn't done. Just as he finished the movement to slash down he brought the blade back up at an angle with force. It slashed at the inner thigh of the woman's left thigh with enough force to make her fall over. Seconds later a pair of black fur covered arms crashed into the chest armor of the mercenary forcing blood to fly out of her mouth. Blue eyes watched the feline Grimm hit both sides of the mercenary's head knocking her out. Still hearing the sounds of combat behind him he turned watching Striker's left arm shoot out with a shoulder pattern glowing the same color as fire, then fire erupted going for Raysel and the altered Beowolf.

The altered Beowolf inhaled then exhaled a cloud of icy air complete with snow flakes. The icy winds snuffed out the flames continuing on to the one who summoned them. Striker dodged to the side before his eyes widened sensing something behind him. The blue glowing form of Nolan was there before a barrage of fists hammered into the mercenary. The blows almost too fast for most of the group to see, but the effect was easier to see. The glow around Nolan's form glowed brighter until it was like his body mirrored that of a light bulb. With a final punch Striker was launched at Jaune's group.

Time seemed to slow down as Jaune's blue eyes scanned the armor noting the various patterns of color that had been glowing off and on during the fight. Narrowing his eyes it clicked as to why they did. Once the mercenary was close enough Jaune stepped forward with force shield bashing the older male. That stunned the man so he turned to the red reaper of the group. "Tear his armor to bits."

"Roger!" Ruby replied with enthusiasm before vanishing from sight leaving red rose pedals in her wake. Seconds flew by with Striker just regaining balance then a blur of red and black surrounded the man. At a horrifying rate his battle armor was cut away from whatever weapon the speed demon was using. Hours seemed to pass then the blur moved away sliding along the floor with the blade of a large scythe in the floor. After a pause a shot rang out knocking the mercenary into the wall he had hit just after entering the room. On impulse Ruby chambered another round into the sniper-scythe watching the older male. After a time he didn't move the teens all relaxed putting away their weapons. "We did it." The little reaper said with a happy tone.

Everyone took a breather with them flipping over chairs and both sections of the, now, bisected couch Basilisk had lazed on earlier. Jaune himself opted for a lazy chair not far from him in a corner. The blond knight flipped it over effortlessly feeling a little surprise. _I guess that training with Eve and Raysel is paying off._ He thought idly before sitting in it.

"What was that mercenary's semblence?" Blake said looking at the unconscious older male thoughtfully. "Not to mention a massive amount of Aura to be able to fight on par with Eve using Grimms."

Jaune chuckled lightly looking to the cat Faunus. All eyes turned to him, even though the blond suspected at least three others knew what it was. "Every time he attacked us with elements of some kind a colored part of his armor glowed matching the color of the attack. Before I saw fire fly from one of his hands a shoulder pattern of red glowed." He said pointing to his right shoulder. "So I figured his Semblence had something to do with Dust Enhancements." Seeing the smile from Pyrrha and the slightly surprised look on Weiss's face he gave himself a mental pat on the back.

Raysel walked over to the group shifting forms. "In other words his Semblence enhanced the effects of woven Dust in armor of clothing. And that does help explain why he had such a large Aura reserve."

Jaune looked over the gathered people till his gaze stopped at Basilisk's six eyes, ones that were staring into his own. The glow was so steady it was pretty much impossible for the human to tell what the Grimm was thinking. Then a sound escaped its fanged maw followed by more. That drew attention before the feline rolled onto its back and rocking curled up. Everyone stared at the Grimm realizing that the sounds coming from it was _laughter_. After a time the Grimm rolled back onto its eight legs and got uncomfortably close to the blond knight. "You proved her wrong." It said as if quite excited, or perhaps pleased.

"Huh?" Jaune got out looking at the Grimm confused.

With its tail swaying side to side in a manner to that of a pleased cat's the Grim spoke. "She did not think you had a mind like her's." Then the two front most paws were placed on either shoulder. "However you figured out Striker's power and led your team to live, proving Eve wrong." Jaune did not get any time to contemplate the Grimm's words before the room violently shook. A barrier materialized at the wall opposite of the large hallway they had entered from.

The barrier bent inwards from the force of an explosion before those bits of wall were pushed back. That revealed a large section of open building and many colored forms of Beowolves and one damaged Ursa Major that was missing an arm. Inside the inferno ahead of them battled two figures Both of whom were already injured. One was recognizable as Eve for her wolf traits, though the addition of bone-plates were odd. However the man before her struck the group of Huntsmen-in-training as familiar.

"That man is Jake Riddley." Abraham's drone remarked floating within the range of the barrier.

Thundering roars of Beowolves pierced the air from only the ones colored white. Following that the inferno was flash frozen and two of the dozen white ones swiped. With that action ice shards launched at the yellow eyed Grimmblood. If that wasn't enough of a shock two Beowolves glowing magma orange surged to Jake Riddley. One stopped near the Grimmblood then held up a paw summoning a ball of fire, then threw it. As that traveled to him the other fire colored Beowolf shoulder slammed him. However the closer Grimm was quickly grabbed into a choke hold right before the ball of flames hit. That exploded sending out a concussive blast clearing the flames quickly. Just above the centuries old criminal the form of Eve came down cloaked in sparking electricity. The heel of a foot brutally slammed into his head sending the man crashing through at least one floor if not more than one by the sound. It wasn't long before Jake appeared behind the Conduit with a blade about to hit.

"Eve!" Pyrrha yelled reaching out with one hand instinctively as if trying to touch the other girl. However sight of a smirk confused the Mystral champion. That was answered quickly by Jake's blade going through an image moments before a kick as brutal as the last one struck center mass. That launched the Grimmblood up into the air to almost hit the ceiling. At the same time they witnessed Eve take a wide stance while holding one arm, braced with the other, in front of her. Seconds later a ball of energy formed in front of the held out palm. It grew quickly to the size of a basketball, then exploded forward with Jake in the path. The beam of green and black colored energy drowned out all noise. A short thirty seconds later the beam vanished to display a clean cut hole through the building to outside, and another distant building with a hole through it as well.

"Holy shit." Nolan spoke with the blue glow around his body vanishing, along with the fox features. He knew there was no doubt in his mind as to who the most dangerous student at Beacon was this moment. Though he could see the Conduit breathing heavy from fatigue. _I wouldn't be surprised if that ate up a lot of her stamina doing that destructive beam._ He noted mentally. Eve stayed still for almost a minute as the Grimm under her command rushed out following the path of destruction, then she did as well.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

Moonlight shined brightly over head giving me more light than I needed to see by. Landing on the ground outside the laboratory I took several sniffs of the air right alongside the still alive Grim from the horde I had tamed. Of them less than half remained with me, and all of them Beowolves. One scent quickly dominated most others being the smell of the ocean, or at least a large body of water. Other than that it was easy to pick up the Grimmblood's scent from the few other ones. Sprinting forwards I followed the scent trail eventually finding a blood one as well. Right at my heels was the large pack of augmented Beowolves that either had augments to represent fire or ice in their fur colors respectively. We chased that blood trail then caught sight of the one leaving it from burns on the arms and legs.

"Persistent bitch." The Grimmblood growled turning a sharp left. I followed jumping to run on the side of a building to keep my speed. Then dashed back to the street that was totally devoid of traffic, save for something approaching fast. It wasn't long before I saw the flashing red and blue lights of a police vehicle. The Grimmblood jumped over the car with ease letting a few droplets of blood fall onto it. Following that example I also jumped over it hearing my pack of Grimm do the same thing. He went down another left forcing me to run on the side of another building. Getting tired of the chase I shoved off the building with power in my legs. That let me get close enough to punch him in the back, though the momentum flipped me away from him. I landed on my feet with my Grimm on the other side of the Grimmblood.

"Enough running." I hissed waving a hand in front of me summoning large stakes of ice in the air that raced for him. A wave of his hand caused earth to shift and rise up as a shield. That blocked the spears allowing him to charge at me. I teleported behind the man summoning an ice wall at the same time where I had been. He paused the swing that would have been a punch seeing the ice. This gave me the opening to punch him in the back with a glowing fist charged with power. The blow was thunderous shattering the ice wall in one hit using the Grimmblood. His body crashed through a building to the other side where he rolled to a stop. Teleporting again I came at him from the side this time. He blocked the blow with one arm then retaliated with a punch. I blocked that feeling the force behind it and seeing a small sliver of bone-plate come off from one of the ones on my left forearm.

Two forms of orange and white closed in from both sides. They both came down at the same time and I saw a smirk form on his lips. Without warning he spun leg sweeping me to the ground. As I fell back he conjured two swords of stone before chopping the heads off of the two Beowolves. Once I hit the ground I pulled my legs back kicking him away. With the Grimmblood air born I summoned a ball of flame to the right hand before shoving it forward. The fireball raced to the target illuminating everything in the way with orange light. Seconds later it reached the downed Grimmblood exploding spectacularly. Bits of molten fire rained down from the explosion ignighting nearby wood and one metal box. Then that exploded with incredible force.

A blast wave of air washed over me as with my eyes widening. Glancing around quickly my eyes told me the two of us now had a dock complete with large cargo containers as out battle ground. I faintly heard soemthing next to me so I stepped to the left avoiding a blade that would have stabbed a leg. Summoning my own swords of stone I parried the first strike then the next. Each blow was powerful and quick, far faster than Pyrrha was when I had dueled her. At this moment I was thankful for having to try and keep up with Ozpin's insane speed with a weapon. We traded blows for some time, before his foot slipped just barely. Taking the opportunity I leaned out of the sloppy swing kneeing him in the gut getting him to cough out some blood. With the Grimmblood stunned I started slicing him up as fast as I could. Blood showered the area as I diced away at flesh. Then the pain in my chest flared up again so I closed my eyes involuntarily and opened my hands. Again I had to cough getting blood out from my throat before feeling one hand hit cracked concrete.

"Never give you opponent an opening." The Grimmblood spoke so I opened my eyes in a mix of fear and shock. The ground was close to my eyes so I had fallen to my knees and did not have either stone blade in my hands. A powerful strike in the form of a kick connected with my abdomen sending me flying. I went up into the air then crashed through something hard before hitting another hard object. The groaning of metal told me this was one of the shipping containers, and glancing down at it I recognized the familiar Schnee Dust Company logo.

"Never give your opponent and opening eh?" I said to myself hopping down from the top of it. Then I conjured stone to cover my hands on top of the parts covered by bone-plates. Once they were covered up to about mid forearm I grabbed the container and hefted. At first it didn't budge, but another pull got it moving. A third tug and spin let me throw it over towards where I had been. The container didn't hold up so well and let out a string of cases and some of those opened to let out Dust crystals. A bolt of fire came in from a distance nailing one of the Dust crystals spot on setting off an explosion of size. To defend myself from the flames I held out hands forming a barrier. While holding it I let myself breath a little feeling exhaustion creeping up on me from the non stop fighting for who knows how long. I dropped the bubble after the flames died down for the most part.

 _"We distract prey and you strike at his back."_ A voice from one of my Grimm said in my head. I grinned liking the idea, though could they actually occupy him enough to grant me another shot at a surprise attack? I quickly pushed that thought to the back of my mind summoning a spear of molten rock in my hands.

 _"Do your best."_ I replied back through the bond I shared with the tamed Grimm. Moving through the flames it did not take me long to hear grunting and yips from the two battling forces. Going around the corner of a cargo container I saw one Grimm of white and two of orange attacking the Grimmblood with unexpected fluidity of movement and coordination. I stopped in the shadows to watch the fight amazed by the way the three augmented Beowolves used their elemental weapons. The one doing the most was the white one using a spear of icy white-blue in the same manner as I did with my staff. The other two had swords of flame and the furthest back one was throwing bolts of fire. I waited seeing the signs of fatigue on the Grimmblood that I felt, so he was approaching his limit too.

The white Beowolf roared swinging one end of the spear to cut through the two swords in the man's hand before turning to use the opposite end to stumble him. It worked as the Grimmblood moved a foot out of the way to stay standing and the orange one with swords charged forward. It slashed at him generating the slight smell of burnt flesh and pushing the Grimmblood back. Several bolts of fire went past him to near where I was though none of them hit. Ignoring that I charged at his side going low for an upwards kick enhanced by electricity. He screamed going up into the air then back down. Once on the ground I went for a punch, but he rolled out of the way and back onto his feet. He came at me so I dodged under a kick moving backwards as the Grimmblood pressed the attack. Once again we traded blows, but this time it was purely hand-to-hand combat. With each strike a tiny sliver of bone-plate came off the ones on my arms and legs. Regardless I pressed on feeling his flesh and bones beginning to crack under my assault.

My back hit a wall stopping my movement and I knew pain was coming. That expectation was fulfilled seconds later by a fist crashing into my abdomen. A little blood came out of my mouth from the impact at the same time a concussive blast erupted out. I felt myself go through a number of solid surfaces to stop at another one, buried partially into it. With a grunt I pried myself from the hard metal of another shipping container vaguely feeling something sticking in my side. I quickly reached for the location of the feeling and pulled on whatever object it was. It was a sharp shard of torn metal with scorch marks on it. Bringing up a hand I held it up palm facing where the Grimmblood was. In front of it a small orb of energy formed until it grew to the size of a tennis ball.

 _"Scatter and come to me!"_ I ordered to the Grimm watching their forms jump into the air away from the trail of destruction that I had made thanks to him. The moment the Grimm were out of the possible blast radius I unleashed the energy as a beam. Eyes widened seeing a quick flash of light before a beam came for the one I unleashed. The two energies met for some seconds, then exploded in blinding light. I shielded my eyes from the light feeling the push of wind. After a time that subsided and I lowered the protecting limb. Between me and the Grimmblood the area was letting off lots of steam while nothing else stood but glassed ground. Across the wastes I could see that he had taken his Beowolf form that he had shown me once before. Yellow eyes glared with roiling anger at me, and I replied in kind.

The Grimmblood held up two paws then stretched them out as if pushing a curtain aside from the middle. In the blink of an eye a crimson glowing spear of energy was there hovering before him. It was like a simple rod of metal with both ends sharpened to a lethal point that had tiny wisps of energy at either end. One paw grabbed the spear then that arm readied itself for a throw. I narrowed my eyes with a growl conjuring a bow of lightning and quickly taking aim. At the same time I pulled the string back I figured otu where I was going to shoot; the right shoulder joint. I released the arrow of electricity at the same time her threw the spear. Following that came a salvo of ice shards and bolts of fire from my Beowolves. Time slowed down as I watched the spear of energy come towards me crackling with unstable energy half way to me. Out of the corner of my eyes I saw my Beowolves run away, then the spear hit the ground near me exploding.

Blinding crimson light engulfed everything as my feet left the ground. Pain at the same level as the one in my chest ensnared my entire body and I screamed. After some time I felt myself hit the ground then roll feeling more of the bone-plates being chipped away. My eyes stared at concrete directly before them before I began to move. Everything protested movement and I ignored it getting up. However I fell back to the ground feeling the bone of my jaw hit. Several more times I tried getting up, then on the fourth try my limbs more or less worked with me. Shakily I stood up breathing hard with blood dripping from too many places on my body.

 _"Another incoming Alpha."_ One of the Grimm said and I felt relief that they hadn't been caught int he blast except for one. That left me with a dozen Beowolves in total under my control.

Quickly focusing my gaze onto the Grimmblood I saw another spear of energy form, this time within the left paw. "Fuck." I cursed feeling knowing I couldn't survive another explosion like that, and have my limbs still attached. However it seemed that spear seemed to hold form until one of the sharp points connected with something. An idea popped into my head and i knew it was crazy. The idea was simple: grab the spear before wither pointy end could touch something and explode. Intently I watched him aim the spear before throwing it. My gaze quickly switched from the Grimmblood to the spear. Once again time seemed to slow as the spear came for me. I stepped to the right then reached for it. Immediately pain flared in my left hand from the spear. Gritting my teeth I ignored that to grip the weapon tightly and slide form the force. After early a meter I stopped sliding feeling the energy within wanting to burst. I saw the shocked eyes of the Grimmblood then focused all the power I could to the weapon in my left hand. From that I saw a orange and black glow take over the spear before sparking in those colors.

"Time to pay for your sins torturer!" I called taking a step to throw the spear. That raced for the stunned Grimmblood who did nothing to evade it. He was stabbed through the heart by one end of the spear. A split second later that exploded more violently than the last one, and I passed out.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

"We need to move faster!" the crimson haired amazon of the group of Beacon students shouted in an attepmt to be heard over the wail of sirens. Ahead of them one of Vale's docks was glowing from fires they could see form some distance away.

"Pyrrha! Wait!" Jaune called to his red haired team mate getting no reply, only a faster sprint from her. He groaned feeling the strain of running so far from the half way collapsed lab they had been in. Thankfully the police arrived after they had gotten out of there as explaining their presence, and most notably the two Grimms, would have been difficult.

"Stop Pyrrha!" Ruby's voice shouted at them as she raced up to them from running ahead earlier. The champion stopped hearing the fear within the younger teen's voice. Her silver orbs displayed that as well as uncertainty. The others shortly stopped next to Pyrrha catching their breath and or looking to Ruby. "They are fighting at a level that we can't." As if to prove her point the ground rumbled violently with a tremor at the instant of an explosion of flames.

The feline Grimm, Basilisk, formed out of thin air before the group. "The two are at the end of their fight." Basilisk said before turning to face the distant evidence of superhuman fighting. Another tremor shook the ground a bit and at this time the group noticed a string of police vehicles. The vehicles and police officers were lined up a little distance form the entrance to the docks that were a battleground.

Dread once again filled the Mystral champion's gut. However she forced that down moving to get closer despite the risk that presented. Blake and Ren shook their heads at the same time, but followed the amazon anyway. They stopped within shouting distance of the police line being among the few who approached that closely. Weiss' eyes widened at the recognizable symbol of the Schnee Dust Company on one of the nearby shipping containers. Then her icy colored eyes shifted to a figure pulling on one of those with fingers buried in the side. Her eyes widened at the sight of the shipping container being thrown to another location from where it had been. As it sailed through the air cases of Dust fell out, and some of those opened to let out Dust crystals. Watching the Dust fly a streak of flames impacted a Dust crystals causing it to explode and chain to the others.

Coughing Jaune spoke. "What happened?"

"A shipping container was throne then its contents were made to explode." Raysel supplied waving a hand in front of her to clear the flames immediately before them. With the flames gone they all watched as a white Beowolf holding a spear of ice expertly used it to combat Jake's two swords. _The Beowolf is using the same moves that Eve does when she uses her sword staff._ The ConCain Grimmblood noted mentally. It wasn't long before that icy spear broke through both swords then the non-bladed end tripped the male.

The white Boeowolf wasn't alone in its attacks. Others colored a magma orange swiped at the air throwing bolts of fire that either hit or barely missed the Grimmblood. Then Eve's form became visible as she went to attack with electricity covering a leg. That limb connected with the 700 year old criminal launching up into the air. Once the man was on the ground she went to punch him, only for the male do roll out of the way. Quickly the tide of battle turned with Jake putting Eve on the defensive, forcing her to back up as they battled. It mesmerized them that each attack between the two cracked concrete under their feet. That stopped quickly with Eve backing up into the side of a shipping container.

Pyrrha's mouth hung open in fear seeing Jake Riddley shifting to punch with force. That strike hit hard enough to send out a powerful concussive blast sending bits of concrete and metal flying. Following that was a path of destruction carved out by Eve's body through a number of shipping containers and a brick wall. Eve finally stopped partly buried into another shipping container, then pulled herself out. There was a pause of combat with the Conduit pulling something out of her side, then a hand was held up before her. Another ball of energy formed in front of it smaller than the last one. The colored Grimm that had been previously attacking Jake all scattered away from him. The onlookers caught sight of Jake doing the same thing. Shortly after a beam of energy roared from Eve's location, then a retaliating one came from Jake's. The two beams of energy clashed and seemed to freeze for some a few seconds.

A bright light and the roar of energy in the air signaled an explosion that reached into the sky. Those at or near the police line of vehicles screamed, but couldn't be heard by anyone. The light died down slowly to reveal the aftermath; a glassed section of ground that had wisps of steam rising from it. Through the steam a form was seen that sent a chill down the spines of the more normal onlookers. A large Beowolf with plenty of bone-plates over its form standing upright. Jake Riddley spread arms wide like parting a curtain with a glowing crimson object materializing before him. The Grimmblood grabbed it and only then did the students realize what the object set his arm up for a throw that Pyrrha was all to familiar with due to her weapon.

Across the glassed land Eve had conjured up a bow of electricity and pulled back the string. Slow moments passed before the Conduit let go of the bowstring and the spear of energy was thrown. The attacks sailed by the other with the arrow or bolt of electricity striking first, hitting Jake in the right shoulder to electrocute his form. Following that up was a salvo of ice shards and blasts of fire from the distant Beowolves standing on shipping containers. The spear quickly started sparking before it hit the ground near Eve, and detonated. The explosion before paled in comparison to this one that rocked the ground shaking the police vehicles. A force of wind pushed violently outwards blocking sight, forcing the spectators to shield their eyes. Slowly the wind and bright crimson light faded and the sharp eyes of Raysel and Blake spotted a rolling figure.

The Conduit rolled on the ground gaining more scratches and bruises from chipped and broken concrete, before coming to a stop face first. For what seemed like hours Eve didn't move then her arms shook with struggle. Once the two arms were roughly in a sit up position she tried pushing up before falling to the ground again. Twice more she fell then on the fourth try she slowly got onto her feet trailing blood from countless places on her body. They could tell Eve was on her last legs with her breath ragged. Another spear of energy formed, this time in Jake's left paw. He wasted little time in throwing the weapon getting air into his lungs with deep breaths. A smirk came to the Conduit's face before she stepped to the side then _grabbed_ the spear before the tip could touch anything. Her body tensed resisting the force that pushed her back for nearly a meter.

Once stopped orange and black colored energy surged over the Conduit's left arm to the spear. Within about a thirty seconds or so the spear had changed in color to match the energy that was sent to it. It sparked in the black and orange mix with her bringing up the spear to throw left handed. "Time to pay for your sins torturer!" Eve's voice boomed with volume as the spear was thrown. Watching in awed silence the students felt a ting of relief seeing it stab through the heart. This time the explosion was the biggest throwing up countless objects, including spectators.

Raysel slammed a palm down onto the ground conjuring up a barrier that was combined with one that Basilisk made. Through the protective energy the others witnessed the police vehicles tossed away like toys and dust washing over them for some time. The cloud of dust seemed to settle down then one of the police cars smashed onto the top of the shield. The others sighed in relief before the car was tossed aside by the altered Beowolf. The Grimm's form was covered in a layer of concrete dust making it gray rather than black with bits of blue glowing crystal. Once the car was off the barrier both Raysel and Basilisk stopped channeling them.

"What the hell was that Jake did?" Yang asked before waving a hand in her face trying to clear the dust that hung in the air. Without warning a chorus of howls echoed into the night air making the teens jump, except for Raysel. The howls held a feeling of energy in them to the young Grimmblood. Sure enough the dust was forced away from the area letting them see a wasteland of shattered materials. They hesitantly walked into it stopping when Weiss heard a soft squish from one of her boots. Looking down her right boot had stepped on some part of an organ connected to the horribly burnt remains of a head. The heiress for her credit didn't scream at the sight, but nonetheless felt a chill go down her spine.

A form leaped over the students to land in front of them. That form was the feline Grimm taking off with purpose into the thick of the ruined docks. Looking between each other briefly they shrugged then gave chase to Basilisk's form. It wasn't long before they stopped near the feline Grimm. Gathered in a protective circle stood the forms of just over a dozen Beowolves whose colors were a mix of white and lava orange. The tamed Grimms stepped aside for them recognizing that they would have the ability to help their alpha.

"My god..." Pyrrha whispered looking over the battered form of Eve. up close she could tell the bleeding wasn't as bad as it had looked from a distance, but that much blood loss wouldn't be good. Everywhere her green eyes looked wounds were evident from prolonged fighting. Then there was the white bone-plates that dotted most of the Conduit's form that had quite a few scuff marks on them or small bits missing. The champion dropped to her knees with her eyes glued to the most horrific of the injuries. A giant shard of fused Dust crystal shards and metal stuck out from an eye socket.

Raysel lightly pushed her way through the others to get next to Eve's form. She quickly got to work on checking on the Conduit's health. To say she was going to need some time in the hospital was an understatement, though the Grimmblood was more concerned if her leader was alive or dead. Placing a hand on the Conduit's chest Raysel felt better feeling a faint heartbeat. One of her fingers touched the bone-plate covering part of Eve's breasts then that fell off in small chunks. Taking off her shirt the Grimmblood placed it over the Conduit's chest.

Nolan came closer seeing the slow, but somewhat unsteady, rise and fall of his leader's chest. Without warning something brushed his left leg so he looked at his hip. The silver object that was his Scroll was missing. He turned to the sound of dialing to see Basilisk with his Scroll open and calling someone. How the Grimm had the knowledge to operate said device was unknown, though he had no idea just who the Grimm was calling.

It wasn't long before the dialing sound stopped and the face of Professor Ozpin appeared in the screen. The man nearly took a sip from his mug but paused upon what he saw. "Who might you be, and why are you using one of my student's Scroll?" From the Headmaster's point it was unusual that Nolan Quester would call him. However the feline like Grimm mask with blue eyes and a pattern that glowed the same color made him wonder what team ERIN was up to. For that matter teams RWBY and JNPR had been gone most of the day and into the night.

Within the blink of an eye Ruby zoomed into view of the camera letting Ozpin relax. "Eve is badly hurt!" She blurted then tried to grab the Scroll from Basilisk. The feline Grimm grinned showing one of its fangs before rolling under the scythe wielder. Ruby fell to the group in a surprised heap.

"Mistress needs medical attention." Basilisk commented then moved to point the camera at Eve's form. "Send it quickly." With that the Grimm closed the Scroll placing back where it has snatched the device from.

Weiss and the others moved closer to get a look at the damage. Silence hung in the air like a thick fog. "Shouldn't we remove the shard of debris in her left eye socket?"

Raysel's crimson eyes moved to Weiss for a time then back to Eve's head. With both hands she felt around the wound and the shard itself. "Yes." Raysel answered then without a word Nolan knelt down to hold the Conduit's head from the other side. "Yang I need you to pull out the shard straight up, in one go if possible."

The blond brawler felt apprehension at what she was asked to do. It could work, or kill Eve if she messed up. Taking a deep breath she moved over to position herself above Eve's head. She slowly let out a breath of air then reached down to grab the shard. Thankfully the shard itself was not razor sharp at the edges, though she could feel that with enough force the dull edges would be able to cut. Again she took a deep breath making sure to have a solid hold on on the object. After releasing that breath Yang pulled on the shard using her Aura to strengthen the motion, careful not to extend that to the Dust crystals within it. With a sickeningly wet slushy sound the shard came out trailing blood and bits of what was an eyeball and the bone around the socket.

Four of the nearby Beowolves turned to crowd over Eve's form reaching out to touch her body with a paw each. Each of the four Grimms glowed brightly from the blue designs where the students were used to seeing burning crimson. Then to their astonishment the Grimms began withering away into blue-black smoke that traveled to the open eye wound. The mixed colored smoke stayed there covering most of the left side of Eve's face in a bone-plate. They noticed the partial mask had an extra layer over where her left eye would be. Shortly after that a Bulkhead landed near them with paramedics rushing out. The Beacon students quickly got out of the way as the team of paramedics got Eve onto a stretcher and carried her onto the Bullhead. Feeling the weight of the night and the laboratory on their minds the teens all moved onto the spacious aircraft.

One of the shorter paramedics turned to look over the students then paled at the sight of 13 Beowolves and a never before seen Grimm. "What are those things doing here?!" Her voice quivered just a little.

"Those Beowolves are ones that Eve tamed earlier including the two next to me." Raysel spoke drawing the woman's attention. She visibly calmed down taking a breath to collect herself. It seemed that the paramedic recognized the ConCain form somewhere, or at least her family traits.

"That makes more sense." She shrugged before a neutral mask came to her angular face. "But they cannot ride with us so you will need to lead them back to Beacon Miss ConCain."

Raysel smirked. "Figured as much." With thst the Grimmblood stepped back with Basilisk and the altered Beowolf to let the ramp close. The vehicle took off quickly heading for the school's hospital. Raysel turned around to see the remaining Grimm huddled close together watching the transport fade from view. _This makes things easier._ She mused mentally then snapped her fingers. That got the Grimm to face her with questioning gazes. "Get a little closer to each other and I will teleport us back to Beacon." The Grimm collectively nodded then got close to one another with Raysel. The Grimmblood closed her eyes channeling energy around the small area they occupied tagging them. Then she pictured the courtyard and the statue near Beacon's entrance. With a grunt the group was teleported the distance and she slumped over to her knees. Ignoring the fatigue that came back to haunt her she made way to the landing pads for airships and Bullheads.

The Grimmblood caught sight of the paramedics racing the hovering bed towards the hospital with haste. Focusing back to the others she caught sight of two people she did not expect besides the Headmaster. One was a tall lean man with a giant sword on his back. The man's clothing looked a bit worn and rugged in colors of gray and red, with a short red cape. The other was a man wore casual cloths of a t-shirt and cargo pants both in dark blue. Short mangy gray hair decorated the top of his head. However it was not appearances that let her know whom it was, but the man's power. Raysel could sense that he was another Grimmblood like herself, though not of the same type of Grimm. The man's head turned to glance over a shoulder at her and for a split second the younger Grimmblood saw the image of a dragon past his form.

"Welcome back." Ozpin said as he stood at the dock, hands resting idly on the top of his ornate silver cane.

Red eyes scanned the students until they stopped at Ruby, and a smile came to his lips. "Hey kid." He spoke with his voice sounding equally as rough as his appearance in red and gray cloths.

"Qrow!" Ruby yelled zooming to the man putting him in a bear hug. At the same time Yang walked over to give the man, and Ruby, a group hug.

"So those two are your nieces Qrow?" The other male spoke drawing attention. Two very different colored eyes went over the group of students, then to Qrow.

"They are." Qrow replied ruffling Ruby's hair a little with one hand.

Raysel's eyes widened in recognition. "You're Cameron Drake, one of the few known dragon Grimmbloods."

The gray haired male to Ozpin's left nodded. "I'm an old friend of Ozpin's. He called me to hunt down Jake Riddley."

Basilisk snaked around the legs of the standing teens before sitting down in front of them, within clear view of the three men. "That man is dead." It said getting a raised eyebrow from the left eye that glowed crimson. "By Eve's hand no less."

Cameron nodded. "I see. And where is her Grimm?" He took the time to look glance over the pack of Beowolves that either held lava orange fur coloration or snow white with blue glowing patterns. After they his eyes went back to the six of Basilisk's own.

The feline Grimm shook its head in silent answer.

At the same time Ryasel stepped away from the group pulling out her Scroll. Less than a minute later she returned to them. "My mo-"

"Already here." Another voice said cutting Rasyel off. Silver white hair cascaded down the voluptuous form of the woman standing a little ways behind Ozpin. Eyes the color of regal purple looked over the crowd before them, lingering just a bit longer on the Grimms. She wore for some strange reason the female uniform of beacon students.

Ozpin turned around to look over a shoulder. "Why are you wearing that Arianna?"

Arianna shrugged. "I just felt like it, though this isn't quite what you think it is." With a wave of a hand over her form a smoke cloud went over her body then cleared to reveal that she was now clad in a white tank top and black cargo pants with a belt, and thick heeled shoes. "Before you ask I was with Cameron when he got a call from Ozpin to hunt down Jake Riddley."

"Let's all get some sleep." Nolan said going to the home of team ERIN. The others nodded in silent agreement going to their respective dorms.

Arianna watched the students leave and once they were reasonable out of earshot she turned to Ozpin crossing her arms over her chest. "I heard that Jake Riddley is finally dead, but how?"

"Alpha's hand." The altered Beowolf spoke letting the others know that they still had an audience in the tamed Grimm.

"Then where is the Beowolf she tamed originally? The one that Raysel told me was called Grendel." Arianna asked watchig the eight legged Grimm pull up a hand drawing it in front of its throat. "Ah, he's dead."

"Jake killed Grendel, then Mistress erupted with fury." Basilisk spoke getting a slight jolt out of Arianna.

"You should have told me that!" She grumbled then vanished teleporting.

Ozpin looked to Cameron a little puzzled. "What was the hurry for?"

Cameron snickered breifly. "For all the dozens of years you've been alive Ozpin there are things you don't know about Grimm Tamers." Cameron paused shaking his head. "The important one here is that certain bonds between a Tamer and their Grimm make the tamed creature stronger. However that comes with a risk if one doesn't protect themselves. If the tamed Grimm is killed the Tamer will suffer damage, namely internal damage."

Ozpin looked at the hospital where he knew Arianna was at looking over the battered Conduit. _I am positive she will survive._ He thought then began heading to his office, as more work awaited him. Eyes narrowed a little at the ground ahead of him. _After all Eve is like him._

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

Eight days had passed since the night time incident at the docks that made news coverage. The stories were a little vague aside from the fact the two fighting had been identified to be the criminal Jake Riddley and a student of Beacon, the Grimm Tamer Eve Varendir. The Police had announced that the criminal Grimmblood was confirmed dead thanks to the horribly burnt Beowolf head that matched the DNA in their database to Jake Riddley. The news stations also covered the damage report from the fight between Grimmblood and Conduit, simply concluding that the port they battled at was rendered useless until it could be repaired. Another fact that disturbed some people was the police stating they discovered evidence of inhumane experiments conducted on humans, and experiments on Grimm as well. During that annoucement it had been easy for the police officers to be utterly confused to find the remains of Grimm within the shattered labs. Luckily the Huntsmen Cameron Drake had been there that day to explain that the bodies of Grimm tamed by a Grimm Tamer do not turn into black mist upon death, but rather stay around like a regular human corpse.

The news stations had been trying for six days to get any news regarding the condition of the Conduit who had not only destroyed a dock but killed a 700 year old criminal Grimmblood. So far Beacon had not permitted them access to the school for the sake of the recovering individual who was still under close watch. On the other hand things turned more or less back to normal at Beacon with the return of Eve, though the Conduit was still unconscious at the hospital.

Isabel Stelsa had been horrified to learn of what happened while she had stayed behind to spend time with her boys. The feline Faunus was still relived to have her team leader back. Her and the rest of team ERIN had been visiting the Conduit as much as they could, which wasn't much when there was a lot of preparing for major tests. Those had occurred two days ago on Friday, as it was Sunday. Team ERIN sat with RWBY and JNPR at the cafeteria in their usual spot feeling a bit relaxed, or at least some of them. Jaune and Ruby both looked as if they knew impending doom was coming. However Ruby did feel somewhat good knowing that she had gotten answers from an unlikely source to the exam questions: Basilisk. The Grimm had given her answers to the questions she couldn't through the use if images in her mind, though it was still all in Ruby's words of how she described those.

"Why are you whiter than normal?" Basilisk asked as the Grimm rested at the end of the table with the feline tail dangling off the edge. "You passed the test." It added with Ruby seeming to ignore the man made Grimm. With a shrug Basilisk chomped on another piece of large celery. all behind the feline was the pack of 13 Beowolves that Eve had tamed with a dragon like roar. To be honest Basilsik was still not quite sure how that had worked to tame the other Grimm besides the largest Beowolf with crystals growing out of his body. For all Basilisk knew taming Grimm was a one at a time deal, not dozens at the same time. Shaking its head Basilisk banished that train of thought for the time being.

"I am sure you passed your exam too Jaune." Pyrrha said putting a reassuring hand on Jaune's shoulder. He muttered a thanks then returned attention to the comic book before him. A chirping sound drew attention then to the source, Raysel ConCain. The Grimmblood pulled out her scroll then read the message and smiled.

"Eve finally woke up." Raysel said standing up.

"Really?" Pyrrha said with a tone that spoke of relief and excitement at once. With a nod from the Grimmblood Pyrrha smiled then hastily left for the hospital. The others quickly followed suit with Yang pulling Jaune along by his hood. The Group went through the halls of the school and into the hospital via a connecting bridge followed by the pack of Beowolves steps behind their resident GRimmblood friend. They ignored the front desk that was empty, already knowing what room the Grimm Tamer was in. Once on the second floor they went down the hallway mid way to be stopped by Arianna whom was dressed in a black business skirt and a matching business shirt. Her hair was braided into a long pony tail that draped over her left shoulder.

"You all are able to see Eve, but she's weak so you can't stay long." Arianna said then stepped aside from the door to room 248. She moved back in the path to the door. "Unfortunately the room is too small for the lot of you to enter it. However I will do everything I can to ensure that your Alpha lives. You dozen will wait out here until my daughter comes back out." The Beowolves looked at each other for some measure of time then back to Arianna and nodded. WIth that her pruple eyes turned to the door where Eve lay in a hospital bed on the other side.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

Ears flicked at the sound of a door opening. I turned my head slowly to the left seeing a bunch of figures filter in. For some reason I couldn't see out of my left eye at all, but I could from the right one. Colors and shapes were a messy blur, though my nose told me who they were. "Hey." I croaked seeing the blurred mess move closer. I could make out their forms better at this distance telling them apart individually. However my vision was still blurry.

"You look like hell." Raysel spoke so I shifted my eye to the sound of her voice. The silver hair was easy enough for me to see.

I chuckled weakly. "I feel that way, and my vision is bad too."

She grunted then moved. "We can't be here long, but we all wanted to see you." Raysel said then I heard the door open and close. The others followed suit saying they'd visit again some time later. Each of them sounded quite happy to see me. After a time I noticed one shape hadn't left the room yet. Turning to it I could see red and gold, from the coloration I knew who it was. Pyrrha stayed standing in between the door and my bed.

"Eve..." The champion paused as I heard a swallow. "What happened to Grendel?"

I closed my eye seeing the memory of the Beowolf's death in my mind. My left hand tried to grip the blanket tight. "He's dead."

Heels stepped closer then a hand touched my jaw gently. That hand turned my head back towards the door. I opened my eye to see her close to me. "What do you think of me?"

I raised an eyebrow on the right side feeling no response out of the left one. That was an odd question to ask. Did she wander about our friendship? Where was she going with it? Regardless I took my time gathering thoughts. I ignored what I had known previously from the show before my rebirth, and focused on my own experiences with the redhead. I felt a slight cool sensation enter my body eliminating any pain I felt. At the same time my vision cleared allowing me to see Pyrrha's questioning gaze and to the door past her face. It opened just enough for me to see a woman's face through the gap. Her purple eyes held a knowing look with a smile on her lips, then the door closed so quietly I almost didn't hear it.

My attention shifted back to Pyrrha who did seem a little troubled by something. "You are someone who is strong, courageous, beautiful, humble, and caring." I said seeing some of the worry in her eyes lesson. "What about me?" I grinned, or tried to before I felt soreness in my face that made me stop.

Pyrrha pulled her face back a bit looking away form my eye for some time. This let me see that she was dressed in her usual battle attire, though without her weapons. Comfortable silence hung in the air for maybe three minutes or so then her eyes came to mine. "I think you're brave, beautiful, powerful, unyielding, kind, reckless, stubborn, and impulsive."

I winced as she mentioned my flaws last though I kept my gaze on her green eyes. I felt some sort of relief at the mention of those words. Why? I couldn't quite rack my brain for an answer after a minute. Silence once again claimed the room as I noted her small smile. The Mystral champion seemed quite happy, more so than the others, that I had woken up. I could see that in her body language, but why was she so happy?

Her green eyes left mine to look elsewhere in the room. "Despite knowing who I was when we first met you treated me just like any normal person." She paused gaining a distant look to her face. "I've been blessed with incredible talent and ability. Due to those people put me on a pedestal with many thinking I am too good for them so socialize with. Being put there for so long made me separated from the people who put me there in the first place."

"The down side of a celebrity." I weakly said gaining a giggle from her.

"Very true." Pyrrha said with a nod then her eyes came back to mine. "Now I know how how people feel when they compare themselves to me. Your powers and abilities set you apart from others far more than my own. When I compare the difference between us I feel grossly outclassed."

I grunted starting to see some fuzzy spots in my vision. "Just because I have powers few others have does that make me any less human then the average person, or you?" She stared at me for with her mouth hung open a little and a surprised expression on her face. "None of us are perfect regardless if they are a tournament champion or a Conduit."

After what seemed like half an hour she regained composure to smile brightly. "You are right." She giggled again.

I felt my eyelids go heavy and close of their own accord seeing her her talk before they closed, though I heard none of the words.

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Pyrrha Nikos stopped talking when she noticed Eve's head go limp. Looking to the Conduit the redhead knew that she had fallen asleep as evidenced by her closed eye and steady breathing. Taking a quick glance around to make sure she was alone the champion leaned down to plant a kiss on Eve's forehead. "I will visit you as soon as I can." pyrrha said in a gentle tone typically reserved for her little sister or mother. With that she stood up quietly and left the room closing the door behind her softly.

"You love her don't you?" A voice spoke out behind the amazon making her jump.

Wasting little time Pyrrha turned around to be face to face with one of the most beautiful women she had seen. The champion also knew this woman to be Raysel ConCain's mother from earlier comments. "How do you know?" She said with her cheeks displaying a visible amount of red on them.

Arianna let out a hearty laugh at the much younger female. "I've lived in this world long enough to know love by seeing it."

The Mystral champion let out a sigh of defeat. "I...do." She said slowly watching the ConCain matriarch.

Arianna smiled putting a hand onto pyrrha's shoulder. "Nothing wrong with that, nor what Eve said a little bit ago." Pyrrha's eyes widened at that statement. "That girl is wise beyond her years." Pyrrha smiled a little setting the older woman at ease. "As much as I'd like to let you stay by her side I must ask you to leave. And don't worry, your secret is safe with me. Though I would not wait too long given that you chose to be a Hunttress."

Pyrrha smiled brightly nodding. "I understand, and I'll be here tomorrow to visit."

Watching the human teenager walk away with a spring in her step the ConCain matriarch looked back to the hospital door. With a sigh she entered the room to make another check on the Conduit. Her life signs came out normal for her kind and the girl herself seemed to be at some measure of peace. Turning her attention elsewhere the regal purple eyes landed on the bone-plates that dotted the female's form. How she got them was a mystery, though the testimony of the teens spoke volumes. They had claimed that four of the Beowolves under Eve's command had turned into blue-black smoke before forming the mask that covered the majority of the left side of the Conduit's face. At least the mask left Eve's lips uncovered so someone would be able to see if she smiled or not. In that though it was not hard to imagine that Eve had actually tamed many more Grimm than had arrived at the school. Assuming a similar process happened before the Tamer had lost a some Grimm to create the bone-plates for protection, otherwise she was stark naked.

Performing another check up on the young Grimm Tamer Arianna was met with green colors across the readouts of her scroll. Eve Varendir, As Ozpin had informed her, was healing good. Though her eyes focused on the holographic display of the Conduit's body. The first focus was the heart where a tiny red dot glowed steadily indicating damage. On the left side of the organ and some on the lung of that side rent tissues were healing. There would be scar tissue from the damage done by having her first tamed Grimm killed, though that would not cause her problems after it healed. With a shake of her head the Grimmblood's eyes focused on the other injury that held her attention as a medical professional. From the medical scan performed on Eve near the start of the school year Arianna had a good idea of what the left eye socket looked like. Though now it was a mesh of mostly healed damage altered from it's original form. The mask residing over the damaged area made it virtually impossible to get a reading through it with a Scroll.

It was clear that the mask was formed to protect the damaged area. Though Arianna had to wonder if the young Conduit would be able to see from that eye again, assuming another was forming under the mask. Letting out a sigh she yawned. It was late and the ConCain matriarch had been up for two days straight to oversee her latest patient. Arianna left the hospital heading for the silver and gold lined airship parked at one of the airship landing pads that belonged to her personally. It was time for her to get some much needed sleep.

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who is the man that Ozpin refers to in comparison to Eve? that you guys will have to find out in time. also other details about Conduits and Grimm Tamers will come to light in future chapters.

next time: Chasing Flames


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